Invisible
by Nightangel1282
Summary: Chapter two is up! Sorry for the wait! A horribly abused girl that nobody notices is finally seen by a certain fox demon. Contains course language, violence, and maybe some lemon in later chaps.
1. Chapter 1

_This story takes place in Yu Yu Hakusho, and is basically about a young woman in Sarayashiki High School that nobody notices, finally being noticed by Kurama (I know he goes to a different school than Yusuke and Kuwabara, but in this story they all go to the same one!!) He quite accidently meets up with her, and becomes quite curious about her self conscious and detatched personality... only later to find out that she is living her life in fear of her abusive alcoholic father._

_Disclaimer: I do NOT own Yu Yu Hakusho. The only thing I own is my character, Kasumi._

The noon bell rang in Sarayashiki High, and many students breathed a sigh of relief. This bell signaled their lunch hour and they were free from the demands of the teachers for at least forty minutes. Suichi Minamino rose from his seat calmly, relieved only by the fact that he could now spend his noon hour visiting with Yusuke and Kuwabara. He found school to be rather tedious and boring, considering he had the great intelligence of Youko Kurama within him to ensure he received 'A' grades. He found the teacher prattling on about subjects he knew everything about to begin with to be rather tedious. Yusuke and Kuwabara, on the other hand, while they may be immature and even somewhat crude and brutish at times, could at least give him a good laugh.

Stepping out of the classroom, he made his way to his locker, calmly putting away his books and pulling out his lunch that his mother had religiously prepared for him every day for school for the past twelve years. Then he started off again, foregoing the pleasures of eating in the chaotic cafeteria and was prepared to find his companions in the back of the school.

There were several twists and turns and hallways he had to traverse before he reached the exit where they would be waiting for him. When he suddenly heard the annoyingly familiar sound of giggles and feminine whispers and catcalls coming from behind him, he stifled a moan. Casting a glance behind him, he saw a crowd of about twenty girls from his Fan Club (he hated that term, but it was sadly appropriate) approaching him at breakneck speeds.

Sighing inwardly, he decided that Yusuke and Kuwabara were going to have to enjoy this noon hour on their own as he spent the next forty minutes trying to avoid being molested by the mob of rabid women. He shot off.

_Come on, Red. You know you'd enjoy it..._ Youko said, grinning from within his mind.

Suichi rolled his eyes. _Not even YOU want those women to catch me and you know it, Youko! I cannot wait until I have graduated and can forego this lovely experience! I appreciate the sentiment, but they really do take this too far! The women in this school are absolutely hopeless!_

_Come on, just let one of them catch up with you! I've been waiting eighteen years to get laid!_

_Forget it! It's not happening! When I find a woman that I believe is right for me, then I will handle it! But it most certainly is NOT going to be some drooling woman who wants nothing more with me than to get into my pants!!_

Rounding a corner with his superior reflexes, Suichi spotted a janitors closet and dove for it. He had never stooped to this level before when it came to trying to escape his fans, but he was seriously getting sick of running throughout the halls of the school, and just once, wanted to spend his lunch hour eating in peace and quiet.

He was greatly relieved when the door opened and he quickly ducked in, closing it as quickly and quietly as he could under the circumstances. He held his breath, his ear pressed against the door and breathed a sigh of relief when he heard the mob go running by, obviously not having a clue that he had just ducked in here.

Finally, he could have peace and quiet.

He turned, intent on finding a place to sit, and froze, seeing a girl seated on some sandbags looking up at him. She had long light brown hair... so light, in fact, it could almost be classified as being blonde. It hung down on either side of her face, almost concealing it. But he saw bright azure eyes, full lips and a creamy complexion. She had a book in her hands and a backpack on the floor at her feet. Beside her, on a shelf, he saw a bottle of diet coke and a partially eaten sandwich. Her expression was void as they regarded each other.

_Hey, Red, isn't this that quiet girl that always sits by herself in the back of the classes?_

Suichi blinked, recogizing her now that Youko had pointed it out. In all his years of attending school, he had never seen this girl say so much as a word or hanging out with anyone. She was really quite antisocial, now that he thought of it. He had never seen her amid the mobs of women that usually chased him.

She was the first to break the silence between them in the small room. "Don't worry. I'm not one of your fan girls, Suichi. I'm not going to try attacking you." He found her voice was soft and actually pleasing to the ear.

The boy breathed a massive sigh of relief, hearing this, and was actually surprised that the girl had spoken at all. "I'm sorry if I am interrupting you, but I was rather... desperate and needed someplace where I could lose them. I find their attention to be rather annoying, to be quite frank." Then he blinked. "What are you doing in here? You're name would be Kasumi, right?"

The girl blinked, showing surprise. "You mean someone other than a teacher bothered to remember my name? Wow, I'm shocked..." Then she shrugged. "I come in here every lunch hour. It's relatively quiet, and nobody bugs you. The janitors don't use this room until after school is out, and so nobody comes in here." She indicated an old chair that had some rags thrown on it in the opposite corner of the room. "Feel free to sit and eat in here. Those girls are probably roaming the halls trying to find you right now. I'm sure Yusuke and Kuwabara have gone through lunch without you before."

He blinked in surprise now. "How did you know... that I'm friends with Yusuke and Kuwabara?"

She shrugged. "When you're as quiet as I am, you hear a lot... sometimes without even realizing it. By the way, if you're wondering who stole the boxers out of your locker last week, I suggest you talk to Nabiki Obunaga. She snuck in there while you were in gym and stole them. I heard her bragging about it in the girl's locker room two days ago."

Suichi got a defeated expression on his face and moaned, seating himself on the indicated chair. He shook his head. "That... is easily the worst thing any girl has done to me..."

She snorted. "Believe me, it's not. And you don't want to know."

Suichi tried to think of something worse than a woman stealing his boxers and doing the God's only knew what to them, and decided it was best to leave such contemplations for now. Best to change the subject before he wound up giving himself nightmares.

"I believe I will take you up on your kind offer to let me stay here. You don't mind, do you?"

She shrugged, returning to her book. "I wouldn't have suggested it if I did."

He blinked. "What are you reading, if you don't mind my asking?"

She wordlessly held the book up so he could see the cover and was even more interested to see it was a book on flowering plants and horticulture. "You like plants?"

Kasumi nodded again. "I'm thinking of putting in a garden. There's some small spaces for gardening on either side of the front door to my home, and I figure it would make our place look a little more inviting. Our place looks pretty shabby right now, but paint costs too much and we'd never have the time to fix it up properly anyway. So I figured I might start a flower garden instead. It would only take a few minutes out of my day to take care of it, and it's less costly."

He smiled. "Have you decided what flowers you wish to plant? I know a great deal about plants and horticulture myself and may be able to offer some advice, if you'd like."

She shrugged. "I'm not sure what I'd like to plant yet. That's why I'm doing a little research first. I want to make sure that the plants I choose don't require a huge amount of care, because I'm actually pretty busy at home, and don't have much time to dedicate to it. I don't want any flowers I plant to die on me, and at the same time, I want the flowers to be brightly colored so our yard and house doesn't look like it's condemned."

Suichi opened his lunch, taking out a dish with a sandwich of his own, and a can of iced tea. "Perhaps your mother could help you to look after the garden when you put one in."

He blinked when he saw a flicker of sadness in her eyes that was gone almost before he noticed it. She shook her head. "I... don't have a mother. And my father works all day, and probably wouldn't be interested in putting in a garden in the first place. He would consider it a waste of time."

Suichi's eyes went wide. "You don't... have a mother?"

She shook her head again, her hair swinging gently with the movement of her head. "She died while she was having me. I've never met her."

He took in a sharp breath and wisely decided to change the subject before he shoved his foot in his mouth. "I'm sorry."

She shrugged. "It's okay. I've never met her, so it's not like it's painful or anything."

Suichi was trying to think of something to say to this quiet and obviously withdrawn young woman, when she reached up to grab her bottle of diet coke off the shelf beside her. Her hair fell back from her cheek and his eyes went huge, seeing a large bruise that had been concealed.

He was on his feet and at her side in an instant. "Kasumi! How did you get this?" he asked in deep concern, his fingers brushing the dark bruise.

She blinked and shrugged again, smiling a little weakly. "I fell out of bed this morning and landed right on my alarm clock. I had a late night last night."

Suichi blinked, hearing this, and considered. He supposed, from the size of the bruise that it was possible, and so he decided to acquiesce amicably enough.

"Are you sure you're okay? It's rather swollen. Maybe you should get some ice from the nurse..."

Kasumi shrugged again. "I'm not worried about it. The swelling will go down by tonight. Besides, I'd rather not draw attention to it. People tend to jump to the wrong conclusions when they see a girl with a bruise on their face. My hair hides it well enough."

_I find it odd, _Youko said, _that a woman as beautiful as her would keep her lovely face hidden behind all that hair. I think she would look absolutely doable if she put it up in a style._

_Youko... now is not the time... _Suichi said, trying to hide his annoyance at his counterpart's comments behind a face of neutrality. Then he gave the girl a gentle smile. "If you're sure it's not necessary. I just want to make sure that you're okay."

She shrugged. "Your concern is appreciated, but I'm fine." She took a long swig out of her pop before replacing it on the shelf at her side once again. Then she reached for her own sandwich and took another few bites from it.

Suichi sat back for a moment and focused on his own meal for a few moments, contemplating the woman that sat across from him.

_I don't think I've ever met a woman as quiet as she is, _Youko mused, watching her through Suichi's eyes. _Although it is a nice change from the typical girl who would talk your ear off about nothing, it would be a little more entertaining if she was a little more talkative and... enthusiastic._

Suichi wondered about that as well, but it wasn't something he felt he could ask the girl right out. She certainly didn't seem the type that you could ask personal questions of. From what he had seen of her in school, she never associated with anyone, and actually seemed to avoid contact with others at all times.

The girl stole a glance at her watch and started packing up her things. "Class starts in ten minutes." she said simply.

Suichi blinked, and looked at his own watch in surprise. He was amazed at how quickly the time had passed. He quickly ate the rest of his sandwich and drank the rest of his iced tea, before rising with the girl and giving her a gentle smile.

"Thank you for allowing me to remain with you this noon hour. I do hope that I didn't intrude on your privacy in any way..."

She shrugged and shook her head. "You didn't. It was actually a nice change to have someone visit with me."

Then she opened the door, poked her head out, and the two of them left the storage room. Before Suichi could blink, the young woman was making her way down the hall wordlessly, heading to the science class. Suichi would have followed, but realized that he had left his books in his locker and he would have to retrieve them. By the time he got to the class, there would be several students in there, probably including Yusuke and Kuwabara who would more than likely be wondering why he never joined them out back.

He soon found he was correct, when his friend questioned him the moment he walked into the room, and he found himself explaining the mob of girls with his subsequent introduction to Kasumi.

Yusuke blinked. "Who?"

He smiled, not really surprised that they didn't know who she was. It wasn't as if she had any reputation for them to have heard of her. "Do you see that really quiet girl that always sits in the back of the classes, usually in the corner? The one with the light brown hair that's always hanging in her face?"

The two boys blinked and looked back. They saw the girl he was talking about, her head hanging down as she quietly read a book in the back of the class, patiently waiting for the teacher to come in and start the daily lessons.

Kuwabara blinked. "Oh, the quiet girl, huh? I never even talked to her once before... So her name's Kasumi, huh?"

Yusuke grinned evilly. "Uh, oh... you were alone in a closet with a girl? Anything interesting happen?"

The boy rolled his eyes. "You know me better than that, Yusuke. We just... talked. Or at least I tried to talk to her. She's a very quiet and self conscious girl, from what I can tell. She's rather nice, actually. Although... I was a little concerned about something for a few moments..."

Yusuke lost the grin in an instant. "A little concerned? About what?"

"Well, you can't see it because her hair is concealing it at the moment, but she has a rather large bruise on her cheek. She told me she fell out of bed this morning and that is how she got it. For some reason... I think she's lying."

The two boys' eyes narrowed dangerously hearing this as they cast a glance back at the girl. She hadn't moved so much as an inch, except to turn a page in the book she was reading. Then they looked back at the kitsune. "What do you think? You think someone hit her or something? Like her mom or dad? Maybe a boyfriend?" Kuwabara looked like he was ready to wage war. None of them liked the thought of any woman being harmed by a man.

"I don't know. I know for sure it's not her mother. She told me she never met her. And I don't believe she has a boyfriend. She doesn't talk with others, so I don't think she'd take the time to meet one. I suppose it is possible she got it the way she said, considering the size and coloring of the bruise, but... something just tells me that her story was a lie."

Yusuke blinked. "And... she spends all noon hour in that one room... by herself?"

He nodded. "Yes, that's right. I believe she likes the quiet solitude."

Kuwabara grinned. "I know! Why don't we invite her to join us for lunch tomorrow at noon? If Suichi c'n make it, that is..." he added with a grin.

The red haired boy rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "I honestly tried, but when those girls start... there's not much you can do to stop them..."

At that moment, the teacher entered the room and all conversation stopped immediately. The class passed quickly enough, Yusuke and Kuwabara not really paying any attention, and Suichi just bored as he listened to the teacher prattle on and hand out homework assignments and the results of tests.

When the bell rang, the boys blinked, noticing for the first time that the quiet Kasumi was the first out of the door, never lifting her head up once, and seemingly ignoring everyone around her.

They went to their final class, history, and saw her already sitting in the back of the class, a book open in front of her once more, as if she had been there for hours instead of only a moment. Aside from her and the detectives, the classroom was empty.

The three of them exchanged a look and nodded as one. Taking the lead, Suichi approached her desk, his friends close on his heels.

"Kasumi?"

The girl blinked and looked up from her book, and blinked again, seeing Suichi and his two companions. "Yes, Suichi?"

He smiled at her gently. "I was talking to my friends, Yusuke and Kuwabara, and we would like to invite you to join us for lunch time tomorrow. Are you interested?"

She blinked again, this time in surprise, and she considered for a moment. "Um... sure. You guys eat out in behind the school, right? Under the Sakura tree?"

Yusuke blinked in surprise. "Hey, that's right! How'd you know that?"

A trace of a smile came to her lips. "As I told Suichi earlier, when you're as quiet as I am, you hear a lot. By the way, look out for Nashuma-sensei. He's planning on planting a baggie of drugs in your locker next week to try and get you expelled."

The boy's eyes went wide and his hands balled into fists. "That fucking asshole! He just doesn't know when to give it up, does he?! When did you hear that?"

She shrugged. "He was talking about it with Rikuto-sensei yesterday in the parking lot. I don't think they even noticed I was in hearing range. If you want to catch them in the act, Rikuto said his brother deals and is going to get it from him the day after tomorrow. He plans to plant it in your locker on Monday. I suggest getting a camera, going to the alley behind Fransisco's on 124th street and snaping a photo of him getting it. Then inform Yamamoto Sensei and both be waiting out of sight by your locker fifteen minutes before the students arrive."

The three of them stared at her with slacked jaws.

_Ooohhhh... I like her. She's devious and sly! Hey, Red! She's not drooling all over you or asking you out or anything like that! You shouldn't have any objections to going out with a girl like her!_

_Youko..._ Suichi warned silently.

Then the students started arriving and the boys quickly left the side of her desk, having a feeling she didn't want any attention drawn to her.

They went through their history class with the same boredom as usual before the dismisal bell rang, telling them they could all finally go home or do whatever it is that they wanted.

As they left the school, they saw Kasumi again, getting ready to head for home, already strolling down the street.

Suichi raced to catch up with her. "Kasumi-san?" he called out, his friends right on his heels.

Blinking, the girl turned around and saw the boys approaching her again. She seemed to stiffen somewhat before relaxing. "Yes?"

He smiled at her gently. "I couldn't help but notice that you didn't have a great deal to eat at lunch. Would you like to join me and my friends in the restaurant today? I would be more than happy to treat you."

The girl blinked, and then immediately shook her head. "I'm sorry, but I can't. I have a tonne of chores to do at home today. I'm the only one who can do them since my father's usually out from nine in the morning to ten at night. Sometimes he's out as late as one in the morning. I have to have something ready for him to eat when he gets home and make sure he has clean clothes for work in the morning. As I said... life at home is rather busy. But I'll still eat with you guys tomorrow at lunch, if you really want me to."

Yusuke blinked. "Yowza! Your dad's gone all day! What does he do for a living?"

"Shipper receiver. It's pretty busy at his work this time of year and he can get as many as twelve trailers a day. There aren't many people working there right now either, so he usually doubles up on his shifts." She looked at her watch. "Well, I've gotta get going. Bye."

Without another word to them, she turned on her heels and quickly walked away.

Kuwabara sighed. "Poor thing. She seems more like a wife than a daughter. She should be out having fun. Not busting her ass to keep their house looking nice."

"Who was that girl?" asked a familiar voice off to the side. Blinking, they turned and, sure enough, Hiei stood there, his arms across his chest as his eyes followed her.

Suichi smiled. "It's a bit of a story. Why don't I treat you to some food and we'll tell you about it."

Shrugging, Hiei fell in step with them as they made their way to their favorite hangout.

Kasumi sighed, entering the house twenty minutes after having left the school and thought back on her day. When Suichi had walked into the closet, she had thought she was going to have a heart attack. But then again, he looked just as nervous as she felt. She hadn't really wanted him to stay with her, but she had known he wanted to, and experience taught her that contradicting a man equalled a swift and sure beating.

She had been even moreso startled when he noticed the bruise on her face. She was used to questions like that, though, and had lied as always... it was practically second nature for her. The occassional teacher noticed injuries on her on more than one occassion, and she was pretty sure she had convinced the majority of them that she was just a klutz.

She didn't really want to go to lunch with them tomorrow, much preferring the quiet solitude of the janitor's closet, but with Yusuke and Kuwabara's reputations... she didn't want to risk angering them in the slightest.

But she had had little choice but to refuse their invitation to the lunch after school. She had far too much to do and if her father found even the slightest flaw in her cooking or cleaning... she shivered and shoved the thought from her mind.

Time to worry about all this later, she thought. Right now she had to get her things put away and get to work.

She ran up to her room, quickly changing out of her school uniform and getting into a pair of faded jeans and a plain white t-shirt. Then she quickly ran back down stairs, throwing the dirty laundry into the washer, starting it, folding the clean laundry that had been in the dryer and folding it and putting it away. She was a little behind in the laundry, but she figured she should be able to catch up.

After putting away the dried load, she set about doing the dishes and cleaning off the tables and counters, making sure everything was nice and clean. Once she had the dishes finished, she quickly returned to the washer and dryer, folding what was in the dryer and reloading it, before grabbing more dirty laundry and throwing it in. She decided while that was working, she was going to sweep and mop the floors on the bottom floor, and then vaccuum the carpeted floors on the second level.

That job was completed in about an hour's time, and she took a few seconds to glance at her watch, wincing when she saw it was seven o'clock. She had to get a move on and get dinner started soon. If it wasn't sitting on the table nice and warm when her father got home, it was going to be hell for her.

She started cooking, relieved to find another package of hamburger sitting in the freezer. It looked like there would be enough for the both of them to eat tonight. She was going to have to go into her father's wallet after he went to sleep tonight and steal a few dollars so she could get more food for them for tomorrow's dinner.

She had the table set and the food ready by ten o'clock, eating her portion and carefully keeping her father's nice and hot for when he got home. She quickly washed her plate and utensils, and continued on with the housework until midnight, when she heard the door open and close, and the all too familiar sound of slurred curses.

"Kasumi! Ge' yer ass in here!"

She took in a deep breath and quickly entered the room, putting a welcoming smile on her face, despite the smell of vodka that now filled the kitchen. "Hello, Dad. I have hamburger, nice and hot on the stove. Would you like some?"

He simply grunted and sat down at the table. She suppressed a relieved sigh as she quickly scooped up the meal for him and set it in front of him.

He ate in silence for a few minutes, and when he seemed to be satisfied with the meal, Kasumi was about to return to her earlier chore.

"Didjya wash the couch covers?" he slurred, and the question made Kasumi stop in her tracks and her stomach drop.

She turned, her face going a little white. "Not yet, but I will..."

His fist slammed down on the table with a loud bang, making her jump and hamburger go flying off of his plate and onto the floor and tabletop. "I thaw I told ya to wash it before I came HOME, you dumb bitch!! What the fuck's the matter with ya? Ya can' even do one little simple fucking chore?! Don't ya listen to me anymore?! I wanna sit and watch some TV before I go ta bed tonight!!"

Her face was now white. "I... I'm sorry... If you like I could get a clean blanket to cover it for you. I just did the laundry and..."

Her father got to his feet and took several quick steps toward her, his expression angry. Kasumi cringed, knowing what was coming next.

"If ya were doin' the fuckin' laundry, then why didn't ya wash the fuckin' couch covers with them, you worthless whore?!" he roared, backhanding his daughter. Kasumi stumbled and fell against the wall. She didn't have time to move before he had her by the arm and threw her to the floor. Then, before she could even think to run, she felt a crushing pain in her side as her father kicked her. She just felt relief that he had taken his steel toed boots off before sitting at the table. She was out of breath for a few seconds and tears brimmed in her eyes. Then she felt her father grab her by a handful of hair and drag her to her feet.

"Get me a fuckin' blanket and set up a spot on the couch for me to sleep. I want those couch covers washed and dried and replaced by the time I get home from work tomorrow, or I'll give you a beatin' you'll never forget!"

She nodded wordlessly and rushed off the second he had let her hair go, one hand holding her aching ribs.

She got the blanket and quickly and neatly put it on the couch just as her father entered the room.

She wordlessly handed him the remote, and once he was comfortably settled down, she scurried out of the room, trying to ignore the horrible aching pain in her ribs as she made her way to the kitchen to clean up the spilt hamburger.

She still had to start on her homework yet, and she was only thankful that she didn't have that much to do.

After doing her homework, she saw it was two thirty in the morning. She went back into the living room to see that her father had passed out on the couch, leaving his wallet on the living room table. She quickly snatched four thousand yen from it, sticking it deep into her pocket to put in her own wallet later. She wordlessly grabbed another blanket, drapped it over him, and then, finally, went on up to bed.

Kasumi was sore the next morning, and was trying not to wince with each step that she took. Her father had simply been hungover this morning and not in the mood to even insult her, thankfully, as he headed off to work a half hour before she left the house. She was continually reminding herself to make sure she washed the couch covers first thing when she got home from school today.

She was also deeply relieved that his backhand last night had left only a small bruise at the back of her cheek, in front of her ear, so it was doubtful that anyone would notice it, or think much of it. But her shoulder ached where she had slammed into the wall, and it hurt her to breathe. One hand gingerly touched her side and she winced noticably, and reminded herself to be careful not to brush up against anybody if she could help it at all.

She rushed through the halls quickly, making her way to the first class, which happened to be gym. She ducked into the girl's locker room and grabbed her shirt and shorts from the locker and quickly slipped into them.

She simply sat quietly as usual and listened to the instructions given by the teacher, noticing that a certain red haired boy, along with his two friends were watching her out of the corner of her eye. She didn't acknowledge them.

Kasumi went through the physical ed. class as well as she could, considering the fact that both her ribs and hip were hurting today, running laps and playing soccer. The moment class was over, she was in the change rooms once more and back into her uniform, on her way to the math class before any of the other girls could so much as blink.

She did the usual... she sat in the back corner of the classroom, immediately pulling a book out of her bag and started to read, ignoring everyone around her.

Then when the teacher came in, she would calmly put her book away and do the assigned work, and leave as quickly as possible when the bell rang.

This time, however, when the bell rang, she was surprised to see Suichi standing beside her desk. She blinked, realizing for the first time that the boy had seated himself close to her this time.

He smiled at her gently. "Are you ready for lunch?"

She blinked, and then nodded. "Yes."

"Then let's go. Yusuke and Kuwabara are going to be waiting for us."

The girl took in a deep breath and got to her feet, following the red haired hearthrob out of the classroom. She made sure as she trailed behind him, that she left a few feet between herself and him, so the other girls didn't get the wrong idea. The last thing she wanted was for all the girls in the school out for her head because they suspected a relationship between the two of them.

Not that she thought Suichi would ever have an interest in her like that. He was too popular, handsom and sweet for him to have an interest in a girl as antisocial and uninteresting as her. Nobody had an interest in her. She was sure that this interaction was going to be passing... she gave it a week at most, before she was back to her regular solitude.

Yusuke and Kuwabara were waiting for them under the sakura tree and waved them over with smiles on their faces.

The toughest student at Sarayashiki High School smiled at her. "It's nice to see you came! Have a seat!"

She quickly and quietly sat beneath the tree with them, folding her legs beneath her and holding her backpack on her lap. She started rummaging around in it, looking for her lunch. All she had today was a single apple and a juice box. She ate it wordlessly, half listening to what the boys were saying, and when she was finished, she put it in a plastic baggie from her backpack and returned it to the bag.

Kuwabara blinked, looking at her. "Is that all you're going to eat?" he asked a little increduously.

She shrugged and nodded. "That's all I was able to bring with me for lunch."

Suichi smiled gently. "Well, I can't have that." He reached into his own lunch bag and handed her a sandwich. "Mother packed me two today, so you can have one."

Yusuke nodded, looking at his own lunch and tossing her a package of chocolate pudding. "For desert!"

Kuwabara nodded, handing her a container that had what looked like fruit salad in it. "I don't like this stuff, but most girls tend to. Sis packed it with my stuff before I left for school this morning. It's all yours."

She blinked in surprise, totally not expecting this. Then she gave the three of them a small thanking smile and a nod when she saw they were serious. "Thanks." She made a start on the salad, deciding to get it out of the way so Kuwabara could have his container back.

Yusuke smiled at her. "So, Kasumi... we don't know anything about you. What sort of things are you into?"

She blinked. "Into?"

He nodded. "Yeah. Into. You know... like music, TV shows, stuff like that."

She shrugged, taking a bite of the salad. "We don't have a stereo at home so I can't listen to music, and I'm too busy to watch TV, so I don't know what kinds of shows there are to watch."

The three of them blinked and exchanged a few looks. "You... don't own a stereo? And you don't watch TV?" Kuwabara asked. "Well... what do you do in your free time?"

She almost snorted. The only time she _had_ free time was at lunch at school. "I read." she said simply.

Yusuke blinked. "That's it? You read? Don't you ever go out and have fun? Like go to parties or stuff like that?"

She shook her head. "I don't have time for that sort of thing. And I don't have any friends houses to go over to in the first place. I've never been to a party or any sort of a get together."

Kuwabara blinked. "Man... talk about deprived." Then he grinned. "What about the internet? What's your favorite site?"

She shrugged again. "No internet either. We don't own a computer."

Yusuke's jaw was half to the ground. "You mean all you do with your life is clean the house and read books?"

She nodded, finishing off the salad and handing the container back to Kuwabara who accepted it somewhat numbly. "Yeah, that's about it." The girl then let out a yawn, and winced slightly as a shooting pain ran up her side.

Suichi looked at her. "Are you all right?"

She nodded. "Another late night last night. I never went to bed until three in the morning. This is normal for me, so don't worry about it."

Suichi cast a glance at his two companions and could tell from their expressions that they had seen the wince as well. However, now did not appear to be the time to question her about it.

Instead, the red haired boy smiled at her gently. "So, you like to read? What sort of books interest you the most?"

She shrugged. "Mystery, horrors, fantasy... stuff like that." she said simply, turning now to the sandwich. She found it was a tuna sandwich... one of her favorites. "I also like to read philosophical and historical books, such as _Mein Kampf _by Adolf Hitler, and the _Illiad_ by Homer."

Yusuke shook his head slowly. "I've... never heard of either of those last two..."

Suichi smiled. "They're actually quite interesting... although for the two of you, I suggest having a dictionary or thesaurus at hand if you read them. They both have quite complex writing styles and long words that you're probably not familiar with."

Kuwabara scowled slightly. "Sounds like too much work. I think I'll just stick with my comics." Then he brightened. "Hey, what's your favorite comic book?"

She shook her head again. "I don't have any. I've never read one before, so I don't know."

Kuwabara gaped. "Nope! No way! That's it! I'm bringin' manga to school tomorrow an' you're gonna borrow them!"

She blinked. "Well... if you're sure you wouldn't mind... but it'll take me a while to read through them. I don't have much free time..."

He waved it off. "Don't worry about it. I ain't in no rush."

The girl opened the pudding now and shivered in pleasure with the first spoonful of chocolate pudding. She couldn't remember the last time she'd eaten chocolate.

Suichi caught the movement and gave her a knowing smile. "Enjoying your lunch?"

She nodded, a shy smile on her lips. "Yes, very much so. Thank you."

Kuwabara blinked and then looked at Yusuke. "Hey, how come Keiko doesn't come out here with us anymore?"

He shrugged. "She's volunteered to tutor one of the students in the school. That's usually what she spends her noon hours doing now a days." Then he grinned at Kasumi. "Hey, what are your grades like?"

She shrugged. "A's and B's." She finished off the chocolate pudding and put the finished container in her backpack to discard properly later.

Suichi smiled. "And what are your plans for after graduation?"

She shrugged again. "I don't know. I'm pretty sure I'll be moving, so I guess I'll just be getting a job and see what happens from there."

The boy looked at her. "Well, what about post secondary?"

She shook her head. "I don't have near enough money for something like that. If I got a loan, I'd be in debt for the next ten years."

Kurama thought for a moment, but before he could inquire further, the girl looked at her watch and quickly packed up her things. "Class starts in ten minutes." she said quietly, getting to her feet. "Thank you for letting me eat with you." Then she was off, her head bowed as she walked swiftly away.

Yusuke and Kuwabara blinked slowly at her sudden exit. "That was... unexpected..."

Kuwabara nodded in agreement. "Yeah... I thought she would visit with us a little longer than that..."

Kurama looked after her retreating form. "I think she's uncomfortable interacting with others. I suspect she's not used to it."

Yusuke shrugged and got to his feet. "Well, what're ya gonna do? I guess there's always tomorrow, then. We should get going, too, I guess."

Nodding, Kuwabara got to his feet and stretched the kinks out of his legs. "Yup. Just a few more hours of school, and then we're free."

Kurama frowned even more, thinking of the young woman that had just left them. _At least _we're_ free. But that girl still has a mountain of work to do at home. It hardly seems fair to her._

_Well, it's not like there's much we can do about that,_ Youko said back to him. _We've got plenty of time to get to know her better. Let's just follow her example and get ready for class._

Nodding, Suichi started off, Yusuke and Kuwabara right on his tail.

They went through the rest of school quickly, and uneventfully, and none were very surprised when they saw Kasumi was the first to leave the classroom at the end of the day.

Suichi made a mental note to simply do as she did every day and bring his satchel with him from class to class along with all his books so he could keep up with her, knowing he wouldn't stand much of a chance of catching up with her today. He had to go to his locker to pick up the rest of his homework.

Little did he know, however, that a certain koorime was going to do him a little favor.

Kasumi quickly left the school and started for home, remembering that she had to clean the couch covers when she got there first thing. She had almost completely caught up on the laundry, so it wouldn't put her behind much in her regular housework and her father would be happier when he got home. Or at least she hoped he was going to be happier.

Her head was bowed as usual, her eyes only lifting briefly to make sure she didn't make an ass of herself by crashing into someone as she walked. She noticed a boy shorter than her own five foot three, out of school uniform on the sidewalk ahead of her as she was leaving the school property. He was dressed in all black and had gravity defying hair... black with a starburst of white up front. He wore a white headband around his head and had his hands stuffed in his pockets.

She just walked past him, but only got a few steps past where he stood before he started to talk.

"You're Kasumi, aren't you?"

She froze and turned a little warily, not recognizing this boy at all, and having no clue how he knew her name.

"How... do you know my name?"

The boy smirked. "Suichi, Yusuke and Kuwabara are friends of mine. They told me about you yesterday after school. I heard you saved Suichi from a mob of screaming fans."

She shook her head. "I didn't do anything. He just happened across me in the janitors closet. All I did was tell him he could stay."

"Hn. If you hadn't, he would have spent the next forty minutes being chased through the halls. Suichi's not the sort of person to invite himself." Then he blinked and looked back. "And speaking of the devil..."

Kasumi blinked herself and looked past his shoulders and saw Suichi approaching with Yusuke and Kuwabara right on their heels. "Hiei! You showed up early!"

The boy shrugged. "I had nothing better to do. I was just talking to your new friend."

Suichi blinked, seeing Kasumi standing there, looking more than a little awkward. He gave her a gentle smile. "Kasumi, this is Hiei. He gets a home education and doesn't attend public school."

She just looked at the vertically challenged boy and gave him a small nod. Then she looked at the others. "I've got to get going."

"Same time tomorrow." Suichi said. "Under the Sakura tree."

She blinked and cast a glance back. "Okay... if you're sure."

The three of them all nodded as one. "We're sure," Kuwabara said. "And I've gotta bring you those manga tomorrow."

Yusuke nodded. "Yeah!"

She shrugged. "I guess... I'll see you tomorrow, then." She cast another look at the short darkly dressed boy. "It was nice meeting you, Hiei." Then she quickly turned and started off once more, not saying another word.

The next few days passed mostly like that first... the boys hung out with Kasumi at noon hour, visiting with her and trying to learn more about her... but getting any real answers proved to be a bit of a challenge. They noticed her occasionally wincing with this or that movement, but didn't question her about it, even though the three of them had suspicion in the back of their minds that something was, indeed, going on in the life of this quiet and self conscious girl.

Four days after that first time under the Sakura tree (and the day after Yusuke got Nashuma-sensei and Rikuto-sensei fired from their jobs, following the sound advice of the surprisingly shrewd woman they had befriended) Kasumi came to school, her head hanging so low that the boys couldn't see her features at all. She cast a bare glance up and, to their surprise, seated herself as far from them as she could. Once the first class was over, she was on her feet and out the door before any of them could so much as blink.

The second class was exactly the same, and once it was over, they were even more surprised and curious when she never showed up for their regular lunch under the Sakura tree.

Kuwabara blinked. "What's goin' on? Did we do something to upset her or something?"

Shuichi shook his head. "I don't know. I think something might be bothering her. Let's see if we can't find her."

The first place they checked was the janitor's closet, and they found it empty... which probably meant she had been expecting them to look for her. They searched the roof, to no avail, and the classrooms that were open during the lunch hours, but they could find no trace of her anywhere.

She showed up in the third class, but seemed no more inclined to seat herself close to them. As before, she never lifted her head once and was out the door almost the second the bell rang.

In the final class, Suichi made sure he had his satchel with him, and Yusuke and Kuwabara (who didn't really care if they had their bags or not) were fully intending to catch the girl as she was heading home.

When the bell rang, she was out the door. Seconds later, Yusuke, Kuwabara and Shuichi were right behind her.

Outside the school, they saw her headed for the street, taking her usual route to head for home. Kuwabara wasn't going to have it, this time. He charged forward. "Kasumi!!" He quickly cut her off, and she stopped dead in her tracks. "What's wrong with you today? How come you've been avoidin' us and you never..." As Shuichi and Yusuke watched, as well as an approaching Hiei, they saw Kuwabara's eyes go huge as he looked at the girl who had looked up in surprise at his action of cutting her off. "Ho-lee SHIT!! Kasumi, who did this to you?!"

Shuichi and Yusuke were there as well, and their own eyes went wide when they saw what their friend had. And Suichi felt Youko seething with anger instantly.

Kasumi's right eye was sealed shut, and was covered with a huge shiner that extended down to her cheekbone and up to her eyebrow. They could tell just from looking at her that she was very nervous and most certainly not looking forward to the next few minutes. Hiei, who had seen the injury as well, stood off to the side, his arms crossed, and his mouth set in a deep frown.

Kasumi took in a deep breath. "It's nothing. Just don't worry about me." She quickly stepped around Kuwabara, but Shuichi frowned deeply and cut her off, holding her by the shoulders.

"Oh, no you don't! Not this time! I was willing to accept that one story, but this is where I'm drawing the line, Kasumi! We all suspected something was happening with you, and this only confirms it! You're going to tell us what's going on!"

She shook her head, her features going hard for the first time that he could remember. "Stay out of my business, Shuichi! This is NOT your concern!" She broke away from him and started off once more.

He looked after her, a frown on his face. "If you walk away from us right now, then I'm going to march straight to Yamamoto-Sensei and report this myself. And you can explain what is going on to the police when they show up at your door."

He struck a nerve, and they all knew it. She stopped cold dead in her tracks and stiffened. When they heard her voice once more, it was low and filled with a threat. "Don't you fucking dare, Suichi Minamino. It's not your place to do that."

"I beg to differ. Whether you like it or not, Kasumi, the three of us consider you a friend... and friends do not let friends suffer behind closed doors. Now, through a process of elimination, I think it's safe to say that the person responsible for your abuse is your father, am I correct?"

"This is between me and him. It has nothing to do with the three of you." she said quietly.

Yusuke's eyes narrowed dangerously. "So it IS your father, then?!" he asked, his teeth clenching, and fantasizing about meeting this man so he could beat the crap of him himself.

Kuwabara growled. "How long has this been goin' on?!"

Kasumi knew they weren't going to let this rest. But she didn't want her father to go to jail... she didn't want anyone to take her father away from her. She loved him... in spite of the way he treated her. So, she sighed, and turned around, seeing the set features of the four boys.

"You want to know what I go through every day? From school, I head home. I immediately start on the housework. I scrub the floors, do the laundry, the dishes, and generally clean up the house. Come eight o'clock, I get started on supper, in case my father happens to come home by ten or eleven... which rarely happens, but sometimes, he does. I continue my work until my father comes home, making sure that when he gets home from work, his food is in his place at the table. He comes home, normally at around midnight or one o'clock, drunk out of his mind, having gone to a bar or strip club with his buddies after work. He eats, inspects the house, and then, depending upon how good his day was, how drunk he is, and how well I did maintaining a clean house for him, he'll beat me. I go upstairs, do my homework, finish around three or four in the morning. Go downstairs to make sure my father is sleeping on his side in case he happens to throw up in the middle of the night, and then I go to bed. I wake up at around seven in the morning, make up breakfast for my father, possibly call in sick for him if he's too hung over to go in to work, and then I go to school and the cycle repeats itself. It's been like that since I was seven."

Suichi's expression was stony now... which was usually a VERY bad sign. Yusuke and Kuwabara both looked like they were ready to go on a killing spree, and Hiei, although his eyes had narrowed somewhat, still maintained a cool exterior.

"And you put up with it?" Shuichi said, his voice deceptively calm. "All these years and you've never informed anyone? You've never called the police? You never tried to get away from it?"

She shook her head. "And I still have no intentions of going to the police. I've lived with it for ten years. I'll survive the last six months up till graduation."

Yusuke shook his head in shock. "If you called the police, you could live those six months with a family that loves you! You deserve better than that, Kasumi!"

She shook her head. "That's the reason why I refuse to tell anyone. I don't _have _any other family than him. My aunt died when I was seven, and she was the only blood relative I had left other than my father. I know he treats me like shit... and I have no pretentions of changing him. I know he hates me, but that doesn't change the fact that I love him... and I will NOT let anyone take him from me. He needs me. I can't tell you how many times I've had to steal money from his wallet because he wasn't paying attention to our finances and we would have lost the house or phone or the power. I can't tell you how many times I've had to roll him over onto his side to keep him from choking in his own vomit. I can't tell you how many times I've had to buy food because the cupboards were empty and we had nothing to eat. If I wasn't there with him... he'd be dead by now."

Kuwabara's hands were balled into fists now, and he was struggling to control his anger. "That... isn't your responsibility! It's like he's the kid and YOU'RE the parent! Except your a parent who's getting the crap kicked outta you because the kid's not getting his own way!"

Yusuke shook his head. "Why does he hate you? You're his DAUGHTER, for fuck's sake!"

She shrugged, as though it was obvious. "Because I killed my mother coming out of her. He's always resented the fact that I lived and she died."

Suichi looked offically ready to blow his stack hearing this... a sight that was incredibly rare and often one that was dreaded. Because they knew that meant that Youko Kurama must be irate as well.

She sighed. "Don't tell Yamamoto... and don't tell the police. I've lived with this for ten years... I'll survive six more months. The moment I graduate, I'll be booted out and I'll be free of him." Then she looked at her watch. "I've got to get home now." She turned and started off.

She cringed slightly when Suichi cut her off. His features were stony, his eyes hard as he looked at her. She could have sworn for a moment that his eye flickered golden. "For the time being... we will keep silent, Kasumi."

"Suichi!!" Yusuke and Kuwabara shouted in disbelief.

"HOWEVER..." he continued, ignoring the shocked cry of his friends. "We do this VERY hesitantly... and only for these reasons: First, you make a valid point that you will only have to tolerate this disgusting treatment for another six months. Second, informing any authority figure at this point in time would only result in you hating us, and we don't want to damage the friendship that we have developed with you. And Finally..." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a pen and paper. He jotted something down on it and handed it over to her. "This is my phone number and address. I want you to PROMISE me, Kasumi... promise me that if you need help... no matter what time it is. I don't care if it's four in the morning and we have a final the next morning! If you decide you need help, then you come to me, and I will do everything I can to help you. Only if you agree to that final condition, will we keep silent about it."

The girl blinked slowly, and then accepted the paper. "I promise." she said quietly.

He nodded. "All right. Go on home, then. We'll see you in school tomorrow. And this time we expect to see you under the Sakura tree at lunch."

She nodded. "I'll be there." Then she quickly hurried off once more.

Yusuke was in the kitsune's face an instant later. "What are you DOING?! You're just going to let this go on?!"

He sighed. "Yusuke... even if we DID inform the authorities... she would only deny it. She could think up a thousand and one different excuses for the injuries she sustained. She's probably been doing it for the past ten years. I'm sure we're not the first to notice her injuries. But I'm certainly not going to just leave it at this." He turned to a certain koorime. "Hiei... can you do something for me?"

Hiei smirked and nodded. "I know what you're going to ask. I'll observe her."

He sighed. "If her father starts when he gets home... don't interfere. Unless you believe her life may be in danger. And when you're finished, come and report what you saw to me."

Hiei nodded and started off, vanishing from sight.

Kasumi continued walking towards her home. It was about six blocks from the school, and with her fast pace it took her only ten minutes to reach it. Had she been the kind of person who walked with her head up, she just MIGHT have noticed the dark blur that jumped from tree to tree at her side.

She reached home and her routine started once more. She brought her things up to her room, changed out of her school uniform, making sure to empty her pockets first. She blinked when she saw the slip of paper Suichi had handed her, considered, and slipped it into the pocket of her jeans. She doubted she was ever going to take him up on his offer, but she may as well keep it on her at all times... just in case.

Then she headed down stairs, starting on the laundry, determined to catch up with the rest of it. While she had a load washing and another drying, she started bustling around the house, cleaning up as usual, even taking the time to clean the shelves and all the items on the shelves that had gathered dust over the past few months. When she saw the time was seven o'clock, she started on supper, taking a chicken she had bought on her way home the day before from the freezer and started defrosting it before putting it in a roaster and slipping it into the oven, checking it occassionally and adding a few spices to give it more flavor.

Her father never came home until twelve thirty, and he greeted her with his usual cold look and grumbles, eating his dinner quietly as Kasumi rushed off to continue her housework, trying to find anything else that might require her attention.

Her father's excuse for hitting her tonight turned out to be that his favorite mug, strategically placed on the back of the counter, had not been washed by her. Her punishment was a usual banter of insults and put downs, followed by a hard slap across the face and a shove into the wall, before he sauntered into the living room to settle down on the couch, reeking of vodka and whatever else he'd partaken of in the bars tonight, as he snatched up the remote and started to watch his shows.

Kasumi quickly cleaned off the table, putting the dishes in the sink to wash when she got home from school tomorrow and putting the leftovers in the fridge before she was finally able to head upstairs to start on her homework. It was almost one-thirty at this time.

She almost jumped out of her skin when she saw Hiei standing in her room, his arms crossed as he looked at her cooly. Her heart rate skyrocketed and then settled when she recognized him, and then she blinked curiously, wondering how the hell he'd gotten in her room.

"Hiei! How... did you get in here?"

He shrugged. "Your window was open. I climbed the tree outside it."

She blinked again. She knew that the tree didn't have any branches closer than eight feet to the ground, so he must be one hell of an acrobat for him to have accomplished THAT feat, she decided. "What... are you doing here?" she asked a little warily.

"Suichi sent me to assess for myself just how bad your situation is. I followed you home from school."

She blinked, a little at a loss now, and quite honestly, she wasn't sure if she should be flattered or freaked out. She decided to settle for being flattered for the time being, and just hoped that this whole 'let's spy on the abused girl' thing was a one time thing only.

"I told you, I'm okay."

"Is that usually as bad as it gets? If you say yes, I'm going to have to point out an obvious injury."

She sighed. "This was a good night. He hit me with an open hand and shoved me into a wall. There won't be any marks, and no pain for me tomorrow. Last night was rated about a four or a five... medium. It very rarely goes beyond that."

He snorted. "Well, he did it for a stupid reason. Not washing a mug? That's pathetic on his part."

She blinked in surprise once more. This guy was shocking her left and right. "You actually HEARD that? How could you hear it from outside the house?"

He smirked and she felt a chill race down her spine at the almost malicious glint he got in his eye. "Suichi told me that observation was your strong point, as far as he could tell. Well, it's MY strong point as well." Then he snorted and turned. "I'll leave you so you can get that homework of yours done. I've got to go talk to Suichi." He cast a glance back at her. "I may drop in on you guys under the Sakura tree tomorrow. Goodnight."

Then he was down the tree and gone.

Kasumi blinked a few times, her mind still trying to catch up with what had just happened. Then she just shoved the matter from her mind, and took her homework out of her bag. She had to finish this before she went to sleep tonight.

Suichi was lying awake in bed, reading a book when he sensed the familiar presence of Hiei outside his window. It was just after one thirty in the morning, and he got up to open the window and let the koorime inside.

"Well?" he asked, the moment he was inside.

Hiei's arms were crossed and his expression impossible to read. "She reached home within ten minutes of leaving us. She immediately put her school books up in her room and spent the entire time cleaning the house, running around like a good little housemaid, and cooking dinner. Her father came home at twelve thirty, ate his meal, found she had forgotten to clean his favorite mug, of all things, and used that as an excuse to slap her and shove her into a wall. Then he went into the living room to watch TV and left the kitchen to his daughter to clean up. She cleaned it, and was up in her room to start her homework only about five minutes ago. I was in her room waiting for her." He smirked. "She almost had a heart attack when she saw me in there."

Kurama sighed. "Hiei..."

His smirk widened. "I questioned her about the incident that occurred tonight, and she said that this was classified as a good night for her. And don't worry. There's a tree right outside her window, so she doesn't have any reason to suspect that I'm anything other than a human."

Kurama frowned slightly, but didn't pursue the matter about Hiei speaking with her and what possible ramifications it might hold in the future. "Was there anything else?"

Hiei shrugged. "Not really. Though, if you want my own opinion, her father is an asshole, through and through. If it weren't illegal for demons to kill humans, I'd take it upon myself to be rid of him."

The kitsune knew exactly what his friend meant. Kasumi was a very self conscious and shy girl, and thinking that a man that was supposed to love and care for her was looking for excuses to hit her every night... it made his blood boil just thinking about it.

Hiei shrugged. "Well, I did as you asked. I'll be dropping in on you guys under the Sakura tree tomorrow. And before you ask, the ningen woman knows as well. I told her before I left her. See you then, Kurama."

Then, before he could blink, Hiei was gone, little more than a blur as he leaped out of his bedroom window and vanished from sight. Suichi frowned slightly, his thoughts centering around Kasumi once more. He looked at the book he had been reading, knew there was no longer a point to reading it tonight with his mind being distracted the way it was, and decided to simply turn in for the night. Putting a bookmark in his place, he set the book on his nightstand, and shut off his light. Taking off his shirt, he climbed into his bed and tried to sleep.

The next day, Kasumi acted more normally, although she very carefully tried to keep her face out of sight when others were around. And at noon, she joined them once more under the Sakura tree.

Suichi smiled at her, reaching into his bag. "I have just the thing for that eye, by the way. I know a great deal about the healing properties of plants, and put this together for you this morning," he said, taking out a small container with a cream of some sort inside.

Kasumi tentatively leaned forward to look at the concoction, and caught the smell of it. She made a face. "Yuck! My father's shoes smell better after a twelve hour shift!"

Suichi chuckled. "I wouldn't doubt it. But, fortunately, this is meant to be used externally only. You don't have to ingest it."

Yusuke grinned. "You can trust him. His stuff really does work."

Hiei just sat under the tree, leaning against it and looking bored.

Suichi took some of the salve on the tips of his fingers and gently applied it to Kasumi's still swollen shut eye. When he finished applying the ointment, he replaced the lid and put the salve into his bag once more. He gave her a gentle smile.

"By tomorrow, the bruising should be almost gone, and your eye should open just fine."

Kasumi blinked in surprise hearing this. "Are you serious? That soon?"

He nodded. "Yes. I can assure you, my remedies are quite potent and very effective."

The girl seemed to digest this information for a moment, clearly surprised and a little skeptical, but she would see for her self come the next morning. Suichi just hoped she didn't have another contrusion on her face when next she woke up.

Then he smiled at her. "The Sakura Festival is next week. Do you plan on going?"

She shook her head immediately. "Definitely not. I've never gone to a festival before. My father works on holidays, as well, and someone has to stay at home and keep the house in order. I'm the only one who can do it. Besides, I don't even own a kimono, and I don't have the money to buy one."

Yusuke looked at her, one eyebrow elevating. "You'd think with your dad having the job and income that he's got, that you guys would have a higher standard of living, you know?"

She almost snorted. "My dad spends it all on strippers and booze for his buddies after work. If I didn't go in his wallet after he passes out, we'd be in serious trouble."

Suichi sighed inwardly. He knew there was no point in trying to talk to her about getting away from her situation. She wouldn't listen. He knew it would take something big to make her change her mind... and he hoped that if something did happen... that she would give him a call as she'd promised.

They continued visiting, wisely dropping the subject of her father and her home experiences for the remainder of the time under the Sakura tree. Then they got up and headed for classes, following Kasumi's example when she announced that lunch was over in ten minutes.

After a night with being thrown across the room and getting a few well placed kicks in the ribs, Kasumi woke up and was pleasantly surprised to find that her black eye was now gone. She touched it tentatively. There was only a hardly noticable greenish tinge around her now open eye and she smiled inwardly. Wow, she thought. Suichi's remedies really DO work...

That day, under the sakura tree, the boys all noticed that she was wincing noticable with almost every move that she made, and she quietly told them of what had transpired the night before, refusing to meet any of their gazes.

Kuwabara and Yusuke looked like they were going to say something, but whatever it was died in their throats at the look that Suichi gave them.

But little did any of them know, that her situation was going to come to an end sooner than any of them expected.

Three days after her black eye had healed, Suichi was up in his room, Hiei sitting on his windowsill, his arms crossed. The koorime was being silent and Suichi wondered, not for the first time, why he bothered visiting when he never said a word.

"Have you nothing better to do?" he asked, a little annoyed. Despite his best efforts, the presence of the koormie was distracting him from his studies.

Hiei smirked and shrugged. "Hn. Like what? I'd much rather be here than at Kuwabaka's or Yusuke's. I don't feel like watching that sister of Kuwabaka's beat the crap out of him again, or put up with Yusuke's mother's drunken antics."

Kurama sighed and tried to focus on his homework again. He cast a glance at his clock and saw that it was almost two in the morning. He wasn't concerned, though. There was actually no school tomorrow, the teachers all attending a conference in Kyoto. But Suichi just wanted to get his homework over and done with.

His mother was gone right now, away on business in Okinawa. She wouldn't be back for another week or so... at least.

He tried to focus on his History homework, when he saw Hiei move out of the corner of his eye. Looking up, he saw the koorime's expression was dead serious.

"Someone's coming." he said.

Blinking, Suichi was about to ask who, when he heard a faint knock on the door downstairs. Even more curious now, he got up and made his way downstairs to see who his unexpected visitor was. But then, as he neared the door, he felt a sinking sensation in the pit of his stomach, that told him that this was going to turn into a VERY long night.

Opening the door, Suichi felt his eyes go wide at what stood there.

He almost didn't recognize her. There was a cold rain falling from the sky, so her hair hung in wet mats. Her face was black and blue. She was holding her side while trying to breathe in short gasps. Her legs were trembling, straining to keep her up.

When she lifted her head and her eyes met Suichi's, tears started streaming down her cheeks. Kasumi was standing on his front step... hurt, and very afraid.

"Suichi...?" she asked, her voice sounding strained, her eyes a little unfocused. Her legs unexpectedly went out from beneath her and the kitsune quickly caught her, scooping her up into his arms in one swift motion.

He shut the door quickly and turned. "Hiei!! Get my med kit!!" he shouted, quickly making his way up the stairs, holding the trembling woman in his arms.

The koorime met him in his room, holding the med kit ready. Suichi gently set the girl down on his bed.

"I'm... sorry..." She said. "I... know it's... late... but I... didn't know... where else I... could go..." she said between gasps.

"Sh... It's alright. You have nothing to apologize for..." Suichi said gently.

She shook her head, tears still streaming down her face. "I've... never seen him like that before... He just... he went insane..."

Suichi continued to hush her gently as he looked her over. As he looked her over and saw nothing life threatening, although her condition definitely required a hospital, and his concern was being taken over by a cold rage.

Hiei stood off to the side, his arms crossed, his eyes squarely on the young woman, his mouth set in a thin line.

Struggling to keep himself composed, Suichi looked at Kasumi. "I know... you're not going to like this, Kasumi. But this time your father has crossed the line. You need a hospital, and this time the police HAVE to be informed. I know it's not something you like, but..." he sighed.

She took in a shaky breath and slowly nodded. Suichi's hand took a hold of her own gently. "I understand..." she said quietly.

He nodded, getting to his feet. He cast a look at Hiei. "Stay with her for a few minutes, please, Hiei. I have to call an ambulance and report this."

The koorime nodded wordlessly as the kitsune left the room.


	2. Chapter 2

**Wow, sorry for the long wait, everyone!! I feel I owe you an explanation, so here it is...**

**This was the very first story I ever posted on the site and the whole shebang of what I wrote just came up, so I just posted it. I'm shocked that it even uploaded, though, considering I'm on dialup and my computer's a fucking dinosaur... All attempts to upload stories of a similar size have failed miserably since then, so I don't know how it happened that first time. Now I simply retype out my stories a little at a time and post them when I finish typing what I think is a good chapter, which is why my other stories all have smaller chapters than this first one. This one, and the following chapters, will be shorter than the first. I hope that doesn't bother anyone, but it's the best I can do under the circumstances.**

**And now, without further ado... here is chapter two of 'Invisible!!!!'**

**I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho or any of the characters except for my own... Kasumi.**

Kasumi tried not to appear uncomfortable with having Hiei alone in the room with her. She wasn't sure why, but something about him just made her feel uneasy.

The vertically challenged boy seated himself beside her bed and looked at her with those strange red eyes. Kasumi's eyes met his for a split second and she had to look away, trying not to shiver.

"Hn. Relax. I'm not going to hurt you. You don't have to be afraid of me, Kasumi."

She didn't say anything in response to his words and simply layed there, trying to ignore the pain that her body was in. They just sat there in silence for a few moments before Suichi came back into the room. Hiei vacated the chair once more to let him take his place.

"I just called the hospital and an ambulance should be here in just a few minutes." He looked at Hiei. "I'll go to the hospital with her. While I'm doing that, could you inform Yusuke and Kuwabara of what happened?"

"Hn. Whatever."

Suichi nodded. "Thankyou." He turned his attention back to the girl, his hand gently taking her own. "I'll be right beside you the whole time, Kasumi. I informed the hospital of your circumstances and the police are going to be waiting for us to take your statement. You will no longer have to live in fear of your father."

She just nodded silently. She couldn't bring herself to look at him.

A few more moments passed when they heard the sirens from the ambulance, and Suichi got to his feet once more, leaving the room to let in the paramedics. He showed up again a moment later, two men right on his heels.

One of them came forward immediately and started checking her over to determine the extent of her injuries, as the other prepared a stretcher for the injured girl. The first man frowned slightly after a few moments.

"Nothing life threatening as far as I can tell, but we should get her to the hospital to make doubly sure."

Suichi looked at him. "I would like to accompany her in the ambulance, if I may."

The man looked at Kasumi who nodded silently and then he nodded to Suichi in turn. "Alright, then."

The two men carefully lifted Kasumi and laid her down on the stretcher. The kitsune cast a last look at Hiei as he left the room. The koorime nodded, knowing what was expected of him. The moment the four of them left the room, Hiei exited through Kurama's bedroom window, in search of Yusuke and Kuwabara.

-----------------------------------------

Kasumi said nothing the entire way to the hospital, although she did wince in pain more than once as the doctors prodded her in an attempt to determine which of her injuries were in the most need of immediate treatment. Suichi kept a hold of her hand at all times, his sensitive hearing able to hear the pounding of her heart. He knew that she was terrified right now, and she needed all the support he and her other friends could offer. He wondered, briefly, if Hiei would bother coming to the hospital himself. Then he stopped and wondered if his hot tempered friend would be paying Kasumi's father a visit of his own, and hoped that Hiei had more sense than that and would simply leave him to the human authorities.

He heard Youko in his mind now. _You do realize that we could have had her injuries treated much more quickly if you simply healed them yourself. Doing it this way will take several days or even weeks before she is fully healed._

_You know better than that, Youko. Kasumi cannot find out about my abilities. I'm not saying that I will do nothing to aid in her physical recovery... I will make salves and home remedies, of course, but I cannot risk using my healing abilities upon her. Besides, she has been through more than enough without trying to assimilate the existence of demons._

When they got to the hospital, the paramedics brought her inside and she was placed on a gurny. One of the nurses stopped Suichi.

"I'm afraid you can't go in, sir..."

Kasumi's eyes went wide. "WAIT!! Please, let Suichi come!!" she called out.

The nurse blinked, looking at the doctor questioningly. There were two police officers present as well, there to take the girls statement when the doctor said it was okay to do so. The doctor hesitated, and then nodded.

The nurse stepped aside and Suichi followed them into the room.

Suichi respectfully adverted his eyes when the doctors and nurses did a thorough examination on the woman. At one point, the police officers questioned Suichi themselves, asking about the particulars of what he knew. He told them that he had suspected something was wrong with Kasumi's home life, but had not had sufficient cause to worry until tonight. Since he as yet had no information regarding the incident that had lead up to her beating tonight, he could not give them any further information on that particular matter, and knew he would have to wait with the police to learn that from Kasumi herself.

Dr. Yamoguchi looked at him. "I'm afraid I have no choice but to ask you to leave for a short while, son. There is some internal bleeding that has to be repaired through surgury. It should only take an hour or so. You will be informed when we are finished."

Suichi nodded. "Alright, Doctor. I will be in the waiting room. The rest of our friends have probably arrived by now and are waiting for word on her condition." He cast Kasumi a warm smile as he left the room.

He soon found that he was right. Yusuke and Kuwabara were both restlessly pacing the floor in the waiting room, while Hiei was seated on a chair, his legs and arms crossed as he watched them, a bored expression on his face.

Yusuke noticed him first. "Kurama!" He was beside him in an instant. "How is she?! What happened?!"

Other than them and a rather drunk looking man in the far corner of the room, they had the waiting room to themselves. Kurama sighed. "Although her condition is not life threatening, she IS badly injured. I have no idea how she managed to walk from her place to mine. I was just asked to leave because the doctors have to repair some internal bleeding. They said the surgury will not take long."

Kuwabara looked ready to blow his stack. "I've HAD it!!!!" He grabbed Hiei by the collar of his jacket. "Tell me where her home is, Hiei!! Just lead the way and I'll teach her old man the meaning of the word respect!!!"

Kurama put a restraining hand on his arm. "Calm down, Kuwabara! The police will handle it themselves. Do you think Kasumi wants you to be thrown in prison for murdering her father?! They are waiting to take her statement, and will do so the moment the doctor says she is able to. It shouldn't be long. Only an hour or so."

Yusuke frowned at him. "The second you find out exactly what happened, you better bring us up to date, Kurama!"

He nodded. "I can assure you, I will. But for now, we have nothing to do but wait until someone comes to tell us of her condition." He took a seat beside Hiei, found a magazine about gardening, and proceeded to read.

About an hour and a half later, the doctor came into the room. He blinked, seeing the group. "Are you all with Kasumi?"

Suichi nodded immediately, setting aside the magazine. He stood up, the others right along with him. "Yes, we are. How is she?"

The doctor sighed. "Well, she'll definitely be in pain for the next few days, and she's a little doped up because of the pain killers and sedatives, but she'll be just fine. Kasumi wants to have someone that she knows with her with she gives her statement to the police, though. She's more than a little afraid right now and needs as much support as she can get. Any volunteers?"

Suichi nodded again. "I will go."

Yusuke spoke up. "Is she going to be released from the hospital tonight?"

The doctor nodded. "Yes, but she should definitely take it easy... and we also have to consult the police on where she is going to stay, depending upon whether or not her father is going to be arreseted. I think, from the extent of her injuries, that he will behind bars tonight, but I'm no expert."

The red haired youth nodded. "If that occurs, then I will allow her to remain at my place until more suitable arrangements can be made. I'm sure my mother will not mind when she learns of Kasumi's circumstances."

The doctor shrugged. "We'll find out. But we should get going. The police and Kasumi are waiting on us."

He nodded again and, after giving a last glance back at the other Rekai Tentai, followed the doctor through the doors and into the patient wing of the hospital.

When he entered the room, he saw Kasumi lying on the hospital bed. Her normal clothes had been replaced with a hospital gown, and she was covered in bandanges. There was a plain light blue blanket pulled over her chest, concealing the injuries beneath.

Her eyes were a little hazy when she saw him, a sign that she was, indeed, still feeling the effects of the drugs used to sedate her for the surgury, but she managed to give Suichi a small smile as he entered the room. Standing at her beside were the two police officers, ready to take her statement.

"Hey, Suichi..." she said.

He returned her smile and gently took hold of her hand as he stood at her beside.

Officer Otaka looked at her, giving her a gentle smile of his own. "Okay, Miss Ikari. We'll try to make this brief. We know how hard this must be for you. To start off, if you could give us some information on the kind of abuse you have endured in your home in the past? Just for reference, and tell us approximately how long this has been taking place?"

Kasumi took in a shaky breath, Suichi giving her hand a gentle squeeze as he nodded encouragingly. She then slowly related to the police officers the information she had given Suichi and his friends the day they had confronted her. The police stepped in once or twice, asking for clarification on this or that point, taking notes. While they tried to maintain an air of professionalism, Suichi could see their calm expressions slowly taking on a steely countenance.

"And what happened tonight? We need details this time, I'm afraid."

Kasumi felt her stomach twisting with nervous tension and glanced at Suichi, whose gentle green eyes had never wavered from her since entering the room. She felt his hand give hers another gentle squeeze and he nodded to her again. She was very grateful to him for being here, not knowing what she would do if she had to face all these questions alone. She cleared her throat and slowly started to speak.

"I got home at the same time I always do... quarter to four, and I immediately started my usual routine of cleaning the house. When eight o'clock came around, I put a roast in the oven, and then went off to finish the laundry and tidy up the living room. I went to check on the roast at about ten, and then I realized that the stove was broken and the food wasn't cooking." She shook her head. "In the past ten years, my father has ALWAYS had food waiting for him. I've never failed to have it prepared and ready for him to eat when he got home until tonight. I knew I was in for it. I tested the burners on top, hoping I could fix up something else for him... something fast like canned stew, but they weren't working either. If I had had money on me, I would have phoned for takeout, but I couldn't..." She shivered. "When he walked in the door at twelve thirty and saw that I didn't have any food prepared for him..." She shook her head and started to tremble. "He just... lost it. I tried explaining that it wasn't my fault, that the stove was broken... but he either wasn't listening, or he just didn't care. He..." Her voice cracked and tears brimmed in her eyes, the memory returning to her.

Suichi quickly hushed her gently. "It's all right, Kasumi. Just keep going. He can't hurt you anymore. If the police are, for whatever reason, unable to see to that, then I will see to it myself."

She took in another shaky breath and nodded. She continued to speak. "First he punched me across the face... and I swear, he's never hit me that hard before. I hit the kitchen table and the whole deal just fell over with my weight. I knew that I was in trouble, and I tried to get away from him, but then he kicked me in the stomach with his steel toed boots... which is where I'm guessing I got the internal bleeding. It hurt so badly I couldn't even move..." Tears were streaming down her face now as she strugled to continue. Suichi's grip on her hand tightened. "Then he grabbed a fistful of my hair and pulled me to my feet. He backhanded me and then threw me into the wall so hard that a picture hanging there fell to the floor. I ran into the living room then, trying to get away from him, but he got a hold of my arm and threw me into the bookshelf. That thing just came apart when I hit it, and I'm just thankful that it was made of imitation wood and not the real thing. It was light enough that it didn't crush me. Before I could get to my feet again, he had me by the throat and was slamming me against the wall over and over again. I managed to kick him in the..." she cleared her throat meaningfully. "In THAT area, and tried scrambling for the door. I was on my hands and knees, and I couldn't move very fast because I was already hurting. It only took him a few second to recover, probably because he was drunk, and he was REALLY mad. I had just managed to reach the door and open it before he kicked me in my left side. I fell out onto the front steps. He tried to kick me in the face, but I managed to roll enough that he just got me in the shoulder. I landed on the front walkway leading up to the house. I was afraid he was going to come at me again, but he looked at me from where he was, and told me I was a lazy good for nothing, totaly useless bitch and that if I ever came back again, he would kill me. Then he went back inside and slammed the door behind him. Suichi had given me his phone number and address about a week before. I didn't have money to use a pay phone, so I just headed over to his place. It took me nearly an hour to get there, even though he only lives about nine blocks away from me."

Suichi's face was now stony, and if anyone had been looking at him, they would have seen his eyes flickering sporadically from green to golden.

_All that,_ Youko growled. _All that, just because she didn't have food waiting on the table for him when he got home?! I'm with Kuwabara on this one!! Let's get Hiei to show us where that fucker lives and we can give him a little taste of his own medicine!! By the time I'm through with him, that man'll..._

_Youko!! Just leave it to the authorities. In case you haven't noticed, those two officers don't look very impressed with him either._

Officer Neji looked at his Superior. "Otaka, sir?" he asked, his voice sounding rather stiff, his features grim.

The other man nodded and looked at Kasumi. "I can assure you, that man will be nowhere near you anymore, Miss Ikari. We can nail him with the equivalent of child slavery, assault, negelect, uttering death threats, and even attempted murder due to his attempt to choke you." He looked at Neji. "Get the camera out of the cruiser. We'll take some photo's of her injuries as evidence and then pick the bastard up."

"Careful," Kasumi said quietly. "He's 6'3" and weighs over 250 lbs. He's probably passed out on the couch or floor right now, but if he's not and he's still drunk enough, he doesn't care for the police either."

The Superior nodded, allowing a small smirk to come to his face. "Thanks for the warning. We'll be sure to call for backup."

Moments later, the younger officer returned, holding a larger camera, specifically designed for taking photographic evidence. Calling in a nurse, and politely asking Suichi to step outside for a moment, they took the photo's they needed before redressing her in her own clothes and informing the red haired youth that he could come back inside.

Neji looked at Kasumi. "Do you have someplace where you can stay? Somewhere off the street where we can get a hold of you?"

She blinked, feeling a sinking sensatin in her stomach when she realized that she didn't know of anyplace she could really go, when Suichi stepped forward.

"She can stay with me, officer. I will call my mother tomorrow and explain the situation to her. I'm certain she will not mind."

Otaka blinked, and looked at Kasumi who was surprised at this invitation, but nodded.

"Okay then. That should work fine. If I could get your address and phone number, Mr. Minamino?"

After exchanging some personal information with the officer, the two policemen left, leaving the doctor to come back into the room and, after giving Kasumi some pain killers, discharged her from the hospital.

With a little support from Suichi, Kasumi limped her way out to the waiting room where the rest of her friends were waiting. Yusuke and Kuwabara's eyes went huge, seeing the condition the girl was in, and both were set to kill in an instant, before Suichi quickly informed them that the police were already on their way to detain her father themselves.

Then, after telepathically informing them that he would bring them up to date on what he had learned later, Suichi blinked, realizing something.

"How are we getting home? My place is over thirty blocks from here, and I hardly think Kasumi is prepared to walk, especially that distance."

Kuwabara grinned. "We call a cab, how else?" He held up his wallet. "I woke sis and got some money off her before we left. Me and Urameshi took a cab to get here, and I still have enough to get us back to your place. I'm not sure if there's enough to get all of us back to our own homes, though..."

Suichi nodded. 'Then you can all stay at my place for the night. I think Kasumi would feel more secure that way, anyway," he said, looking at the girl who had remained very quiet since relaying the events of the night to the police. She simply nodded her approval and gave him a small thanking smile.

Kuwabara called them a cab, making sure to tell them there were five people, so they sent a van cab to pick them up. Hiei would have preferred simply using his own speed, but grudgingly admitted that him being at Suichi's place before they even arrived would only serve to raise awkward questions with the already overwhelmed and exhausted Kasumi.

**Yay!! After such a long wait, you have chapter two!! Please, tell me what you think!! Read and review!! I'll try not to take long with chapter three, but it might be a little bit, so just please bear with me!!!!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Here's Chapter three!! Please read and review!!**

**I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho... just Kasumi.**

About thirty minutes later, Suichi let them all into his house before shutting and locking the door behind him. It was now almost six in the morning and all of them were feeling absolutely exhausted. Kurama immediately helped Kasumi up the steps and brought her into his mother's bedroom, handing her one of his mothers nightgowns.

He turned a little red, looking at the nightgown, and considered the scope of her injuries. "Um... do you... need help changing? That is... your injuries are rather severe and I don't want you to strain yourself..."

She blinked in surprise hearing this question. She almost said she could just sleep in her street clothes, but then she looked down at them and saw that they were covered in dirt and were still soggy from her earlier trek through the rain. She turned bright red, as she then remembered the things the doctor had told her before she left the hospital, and knew she had little choice.

"The doctor told me that stretching could cause strain on the stitches in my stomach, and that I should refrain from being in awkward physical positions whenever I can help it for the next few days... so... If you really wouldn't mind, I would appreciate it if you could help me..."

Kurama coughed a little into his hand and then nodded. He could almost see Youko grinning in his mind's eye, despite knowing the circumstances surrounding the girl. But he wisely kept any perverted comments to himself for the time being.

Suichi very carefully helped her to undress and redress, being as respectful as his circumstances would allow, before pulling back the comforter on his mother's bed and gently helping her to lay down.

"Do you need any of your pain killers before you go to sleep, Kasumi?"

She smiled a tiny smile and shook her head. "I'm still feeling pretty good from whatever they gave me in the hospital. I think I'll be all right for the night... or should I say the morning?"

He nodded and gave her a very gentle smile. "Okay. You get some sleep then. And if you happen to need anything, don't hesitate to call. I would be more than happy to get you anything you might need."

She nodded sleepily as her eyes slid shut as if of their own accord. Kurama rose from the side of her bed slowly, shut off the light to the room, and closed the door behind him as he left.

He saw the others waiting for him in the hallway outside her door. Kurama sighed, knowing what they wanted, and he wordlessly signaled for them to follow him into his bedroom. Once they were in there, and settled in various places, he relayed what he had learned about the incident Kasumi had experienced that night.

Hiei scowled when he was finished. "And you still want me to leave him to the authorities, Kurama? I can assure you, I could easily get into that prison and take care of him once and for all..."

The kitsune shook his head. "Just leave him be, Hiei. From what the police said, he won't be getting out of there any time soon. And if he is, by some twist of fate, released sooner than later, then I seriously douby he will bother with Kasumi anymore. And if he does... THEN we can handle him as we see fit."

Yusuke nodded, and then let out a monster yawn. "Wow, it's been a long night... I need to get some sleep..."

Kurama nodded. "You and Kuwabara can sleep downstairs on the couches in the living room. We should all get at least a few hours of sleep."

They nodded, the two boys getting to their feet and exiting the room. Hiei snorted and got to his feet himself. "I'll make use of that tree outside your window, Kurama. Goodnight." He jumped out the window without another word, leaving him alone.

The red haired boy sighed, shutting off the lights in his room, and setting his alarm to wake him up at eleven. Four hours of sleep wasn't much, but he would make up for it by going to be earlier tonight.

--------------------------------

The first thing Kasumi noticed when she woke up a few hours later, was that her bed felt unusually soft and warm. Then she took in a sharp breath as she realized her entire body was in searing pain, and the memories of what had happened the night before returned to her in a rush.

She slowly sat up, wincing as her body protested at the movement, and she looked around at the tidy bedroom that belonged to Suichi's mother. All that was in there aside from the bed was a large dresser and a small nightstand. The room was well lit with the sunlight that was filtering through the window off to her right. To her left was the bedroom door that lead out into the hallway. Glancing at the clock on the nightstand, she saw that it was ten to twelve. She had slept for nearly six hours... something she hadn't done for a LONG time.

Deciding she had best get up, she slowly swung her legs over the edge of the bed and carefully stood up. Her hip sent a warning shooting pain through her left leg and she felt her back crack alarmingly. She winced. Her head also felt like it was the size of a pumpkin, and her stomach was simply on fire... probably due to the surgury she had had to undergo last night.

She looked down and saw that she was wearing a long, violet cotten nightgown, and drew up the memory of how she had gotten into it the night before. She felt her blood rush to her face immediately and even that small reaction made her head throb with pain. Suichi had helped her undress and redress the night before... or technically this morning, but she wasn't going to start confusing herself over technicalities.

Kasumi took in a deep breath, felt her ribs cry out in protest, and she winced again. Yup. Whatever they had given her in the hospital last night had definitely fully worn off. She remembered the salve that Suichi had made for her when she had had that shiner and fervently hoped that he had more home remedies to help her.

She took a few slow steps toward the door and opened it, her arm throbbing at the movement. Then she slowly stepped out into the hallway and heard someone's voice immediately.

"Hey, you're up!" Looking to her left, she saw Yusuke leaving what she assumed was the bathroom. When she saw him wince looking at her, she had a distinct feeling that she looked as bad as she felt. "So... how are you feeling this morning?"

Her throat wasn't working so well for her this morning either. Her voice was scratchy and a little constricted, and it burned when she spoke. She touched her throat gently with her left hand and winced at the pain the contact made. She had a feeling she had a set of handprint shaped bruises on her neck this morning. It was funny that through the adrenaline rush of the night before she hadn't felt half of this pain. Maybe it just felt worse because the drugs effects had worn off.

"I'm very sore... and very stiff." She took another step and closed the bedroom door behind her. Her back cracked audibly and her hip screamed in protest at her movements. She winced. "I think... I need my pain meds..."

Yusuke came forward and quickly supported her, seeing her legs start to tremble beneath her. And then, to her surprise, he scooped her up into his arms. "No stairs for you this morning!" He headed down the stairs, taking care to go slow for Kasumi's benefit, and trying to keep the pressure off her ribs. He entered the kitchen where the others were getting their day started. "Hey, Suichi! You've got Kasumi's pain meds, right?" He gently set her down in one of the chairs at the table, between Kuwabara and Hiei.

Suichi looked up from the stove and he nodded immediately, going to the cupboard. He pulled out the bottle of medicine and handed her two tablets, and then got her a glass of water.

Once she swallowed the pills and washed them down, wincing at the act of swallowing, Suichi came up to her and gently tilted her chin upward so he could get a better look at her injuries. He winced slightly, seeing the dark bruising and swelling that had decided to show itself in the few hours that she had slept.

"If I look half as bad as I feel, then I must look like absolute shit," Kasumi muttered.

The boy gave her a gentle smile. "I will make another salve for you a little later that will make those bruises disappear in no time. And I also have a few more home remedies that will speed your recovery and relieve you of your pain."

Kasumi smiled a little in relief, hearing this. "Thank you."

He nodded and then returned to the stove. "And now, it is time for you to have some breakfast. Scrambled eggs and hashbrowns should be easy for you to chew and soft enough for you to swallow with minimal discomfort."

The girl blinked in surprise, realizing that for the first time someone was actually making HER breakfast, instead of it being the other way around. She felt a little strange with the change, but relieved to no end at the same time.

Hiei stood up with a snort. "I'd stay around, but I've got things to do today. Later, Suichi." He walked out the door without another word.

Yusuke grinned. "I'll stick around for a quick bite, I guess, but I promised Keiko I'd go shopping with her today... Heaven help me..."

Kuwabara hesitated. "Well... I was gonna go visit with Yukina at Genkai's today, but..." He looked at Kasumi, and then looked at Suichi. "If you need any help..."

Suichi gave him a gentle smile. "There is no need. I am very capable of taking care of her, Kuwabara. I am certain we will be all right. You go visit with Yukina. I'm certain she would enjoy your company." He prepared a plate of food for Kasumi and placed it on the table in front of her.

She immediately started to eat, surprised at how hungry she was. And then she realized that she hadn't eaten in over eighteen hours. Her jaw protested with her chewing motion, but she was able to tolerate the pain well enough.

Moments after Suichi got Yusuke and Kuwabara a plate of food as well, there came a knock at the door. Blinking curiously, Suichi answered it and came face to face with Officer Neji.

The Policeman smiled at him. "Good afternoon, Mr. Minamino. Is Kasumi up yet?"

He nodded with a gentle smile. "Yes, she is. She is just finishing her breakfast. Please, do come in, Officer."

The man nodded and entered the room, smiling a little when he saw Yusuke. "Well, hi there, Yusuke! I notice you've been staying out of trouble lately!"

Yusuke tried not to scowl. "Yeah, yeah. I'm being a good boy..."

Kasumi gave the officer a shy smile. "Hello, Officer." Then her smile turned a little strained. "Um... is my father... that is..."

He nodded immediately, anticipating her question. "He's been apprehended and thrown into a cell. We did a sweep of your house and we've assembled more than enough evidence to keep him locked away for awhile... including some DNA evidence we got from under his fingernails and a handful of your hair that was still in his hands when we busted him. And now that we have finished with gathering the evidence needed, I was asked by my Superior to bring you to your place to get some of your belongings. I think you'll be needing some clothes and your schoolwork as well. Do you feel up to a little road trip after you've finished eating... and once you've gotten dressed?"

The girl smiled a little as she looked down at the long nightgown she was still wearing. "Sure. It'll take me a few minutes to change, though..."

He nodded. "Take your time. We're not in any rush. It just gives me an excuse to stay away from the paperwork back at the office."

She felt her smile grow just a little as she finished eating. Then she slowly stood up and instantly winced in pain at the burning sensation that shot through her side. Evidently her pain meds hadn't decided to kick in yet.

Suichi was at her side in an instant and gave her a somewhat awkward smile. "I think I'd better help you again. Mother has some clothes that should fit you just fine that you can borrow today. We'll find you something loose so it doesn't aggravate your injuries."

The girl nodded, and then was surprised anew when the red haired heart throb scooped her up into his arms, just as Yusuke had done to her before, and started up the stairs. Kasumi immediately turned bright red at this action, knowing what was going to follow hard on the heels of it.

Yusuke and Kuwabara looked up after them. The former looked at the latter. "What do you think? Do you think Suichi's maybe...?"

Kuwabara scratched his head. "I'm thinkin' so... He's been spending every moment he can with her, so it almost does seem like he's fallin' for her, doesn't it?"

Yusuke grinned broadly and switched to telepathy, aware of the presence of the police officer. _I think our resident kitsune is getting himself a love interest..._

**Alright!! That's the end of chapter three!! Please R&R!! I wanna know what you think!!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Here's chapter four of Invisible! Please Read and Review!!**

**I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho. Only Kasumi.**

Upstairs, in his mother's bedroom, Suichi found a loose but presentable dress in his mother's closet and laid it on the bed. Then he turned and saw Kasumi had hiked up her nightgown somewhat, blushing more than a little, and trying not to wince with her movements.

He came forward and took a hold of the bottom the nightgown, instructing her to simply lift her arms above her head as he carefully lifted it up, leaving her standing there in only a pair of panties. He tried to keep his eyes only on appropriate places, but he couldn't help it as his eyes saw the perfectly formed swell of her breasts before he adverted his eyes. He also couldn't help but wince a little himself as he saw the other injuries that had showed in the time that the girl had slept.

Her throat was an alarming shade of purple, with the very definitive shape of a pair of man's hands, the fingers ending below her ears. Her left shoulder was looking no better, and he had to marvel at the fact that it hadn't popped out of its socket with the impact of her father's boot. Her ribs looked like a Mexican sunset, filled with dark purples, greens, and mauve's. Her back was one large contrusion, and her hip had a large bruise on the left side that told him that she was going to have a difficult time getting around for the next few days. In addition to those obviously painful injuries, were dozens of more bruises and contrusions, even a few cuts from when she had been thrown into the furniture, that dotted every other area of her body.

He cleared his throat meaningfully, bringing his thoughts back to the matter at hand, and picked the dress up off the bed, pointedly keeping his eyes directly off of her body for a few seconds as he composed himself. Undoing a couple buttons on the collar of the dress, he instructed her to hold her arms out in front of her and very gently urged her arms into the arm holes and then carefully maneuvered the collar around her head, and pulled the rest of the dress over her. She winced slightly from the movements, but made no complaints. He took a moment to straighten it for her, before looking at her with a gentle smile.

"How does that feel?"

She smiled shyly. "It feels fine. Thank you, Suichi."

He nodded, his smile widening slightly. "You are very welcome. Now come... Officer Neji is waiting for us. I will carry you down the stairs.

Once Kasumi and Suichi came back down once more, the girl looking more than a little red and dressed in a loose, light blue dress that came down past her knees, the five of them all headed out to the police cruiser parked outside. Yusuke and Kuwabara both decided to put their plans aside for just a short while longer to help Kasumi with her things... and out of curiosity as to where her home was in the first place and what it was like on the inside. Yusuke immediately sat up front beside the officer, while the other three sat in the back.

Kasumi looked around herself a little awed. "I've never ridden in a police car before..."

Yusuke grinned and looked back. "I have... but never in the front. So we're both having a new experience!"

Neji grinned himself and looked at the former delinquint. "It's a nice change, hey, Yusuke?"

"Ah, shove it..."

The officer chuckled as he pulled up in front of a house that could best be described as delapidated. The light brown paint had all but flaked off the sides of it, and it was evident that the concrete foundation was rapidly deteorating. Shingles were missing off the roof in sporadic places, and one of the windows on the top level was covered with cardboard and plastic. Across the front door was the universal yellow tape, announcing 'POLICE LINE DO NOT CROSS', written both in Japanese and in English.

"And here we are," Neji said.

Kuwabara stared. "THIS dump is where you lived?! I thought this place was abandoned!!"

She nodded. "This is home sweet home. Or it was, anyway..."

Neji cast a glance back and offered her a smile. "Well, let's get this over with, then. I'm sure you want to get in and out as quickly as possible."

She took in a deep breath and nodded. The officer and Yusuke got out, opening the back doors for the other three. With a little help from Suichi, Kasumi was able to get out of the cruiser with little discomfort.

When they entered the house, they saw that the table was still lying in the middle of the kitchen floor, one of its wooden legs having snapped when Kasumi had slammed into it the night before. The wall that seperated the kitchen from the living room had an enormous dent in it. Spotting it, Kasumi winced.

"Well, that explains why my back is hurting me today. The wall wasn't like that before last night."

Yusuke and Kuwabara exchanged frowns hearing this, but made no comments. Kasumi ignored the kitchen and headed into the living room slowly, the others on her tail. In the living room they saw the place in shambles. The book shelf she had mentioned was... or HAD been in the corner. All that was left of it were a few planks of imitation wood. On the floor in front of the couch, were six beer bottles. Kasumi sighed, nudging one of them with her foot.

"It looks like Dad had a few more to drink after I left last night, too..."

The officer nodded. "Yeah. We barged in on him while he was drinking. Fortunately for us, and HIM, he was too drunk to stand, much less fight. He sure had a few things to say, though... none of which I feel inclined to repeat in the presence of a lady..."

She snorted. "I can imagine." Then she sighed, looking at the stairs. "All my stuff is up in my room..."

This time Kuwabara decided it was his turn to pick the girl up and wordlessly headed up the steps. She let out a little cry of alarm at the sudden action, and only gave the barest wince of pain from the movement. The others followed them up the steps and into the room she indicated was hers.

There wasn't much in her room. All it basically was was a dresser, an old bed, and a small shelf stuffed with books. In the corner of the room there was a clothes hamper. The girl went into her closet and grabbed a satchel, and started stuffing it with clothes and a few other things. She wasn't in quite as much pain as she had been before, a sign that the painkillers were finally kicking in.

She grabbed the mangas that Kuwabara had loaned to her and smile at him meaningfully. "Um... I never even got to turn a single page of these yet... Do you mind if I keep them for a few more days?"

Kuwabara grinned and shrugged. "I'm sure you'll have plenty of time to read them at Suichi's, so go ahead. I'm in no hurry to get them back."

She nodded, carefully placing them along with the rest of her books, into the bag. She almost went to pick it up, but Yusuke stopped her and picked it up himself. Then Suichi looked at her.

"Do you have everything you need?"

She nodded wordlessly.

Kuwabara looked at them. "Then let's get outta here. No offense, but this place is depressing."

Suichi nodded in turn and they left her room, the kitsune picking up the woman and carefully making his way down the narrow stairway with her in his arms. Then they went back out to the cruiser.

Officer Neji smiled at Yusuke and Kuwabara. "I'll give you kids a lift to your girlfriends on the way to the station. It'll save you bus fare."

Yusuke grinned. "Thanks, I appreciate it."

Kuwabara nodded. "Cool, thanks!!"

Once they got to Suichi's house once more, Kuwabara cast a last glance at him. "You sure you don't need any help?"

He nodded, his gentle smile in place. He held Kasumi's bag in one hand, and supported her with his other arm. "I'm sure. We will be all right."

He shrugged. "Okay, if you're sure. Later, Suichi! See ya, Kasumi! You take it easy, ya hear?"

She nodded wordlessly as they pulled out.

Once the police car had pulled away from the curb, Suichi very gently supported Kasumi as he lead her into the house once more. Once he had her comfortably seated in a soft chair in the living room, her bag within easy reach of her, he looked at her, his features showing concern. "Are you still in pain? Have your medications taken effect yet?"

She sighed. "They kicked in, but they're not doing much. The pain's just a little less intense, is all. And to top it off, I think they're starting to make me feel drowsy..."

He sighed. "Yes, most pain medications tend to have that side effect." Then he smiled at her gently. "You just relax in here. Perhaps you could start reading those manga that Kuwabara loaned you. I'll go into the kitchen and make you something more effective than those pills to alleviate your pain... without any negative side effects."

Kasumi wondered what he had in mind, but she guessed she was just going to have to wait and see. If his salve worked as well as it did, then she had no reason to think that this home remedy he was planning on making didn't work as well. She almost asked him if he wanted her to do anything, but bit her tongue before the words could come. She knew he would refuse her help... and it wasn't as if she could do anything in her condition anyway. So she simply nodded and gave him a small thanking smile.

"Just call if you want anything," he said gently, before leaving her alone in the living room.

Kasumi reached into the bag she had packed and started on the mangas. She went through two of them before Suichi returned, holding a glass of some strange blue-green liquid in one hand, and a tall glass of water in the other.

"This should take effect within fifteen minutes after you swallow it." He hesitated. "I'm afraid it tastes absolutely terrible, but I can assure you, it WILL take away your pain."

_And speed up the recovery of her internal bleeding,_ Youko cut in. _She won't have to worry about straining those damn stitches for long. In only two days she'll be more mobile than she is now._

Kasumi took the glass with the unknown liquid with her right hand and carefully smelled it. Under different circumstances, he would have found her ensuing expression comical. Her eyes crossed and her lips curled back as she turned a light shade of green. Her left hand went over her nose and mouth. "Good Lord!! That smells worse than the salve!!"

Suichi smiled a little sheepishly. "I do sincerely apologize, but you can be rest assured that it WILL work... and the effects will last longer than your current medication. Just slam it back and swallow back the water directly afterward."

She looked at the concoction critically for a moment, considered, and then let out a sigh. "Well, as the old saying goes... What doesn't kill you, makes you stronger." She plugged her nose with the index finger and thumb of her left hand as she quickly slammed back the liquid. Her expression turned so alarmed the moment she set the glass down that Kurama was almost positive his remedy was going to reverse course on her as he quickly handed her the glass of water. Her hand was over her mouth again instantly as she fought to keep it down, and once she had it in under control for a few precious seconds, she removed her hand and slammed back the water as well. Suichi sighed in relief.

She shuddered once she was finished with the ordeal. "Sign me up for Fear Factor... after drinking whatever THAT was, I could handle whatever THEY could dish out..."

He smiled at her gently. "The hard part is done. Now all you have to do is sit back and wait. You'll be feeling much better in no time." Then he sighed, casting a glance back at the kitchen. "And now, I have some chores to take care of. You just relax in here."

She nodded silently and returned to her manga.

After listening to him rummaging around in the kitchen for a few minutes, she started to feel strange, just sitting here while someone else worked. She tried hard to focus on the manga that Kuwabara had loaned her, and then blinked in surprise, realizing that her pain was almost non-existent now. Her head still felt swollen, but not painful... and the fire that she had felt in her stomach and ribs was now gone. She paused, gently prodding her ribs experementally and marveled at how there was no pain with the contact.

She wondered what the heck had been in the mixture and why Suichi wasn't bottling and selling it. He could make a killing with his remedies!

Kasumi felt a smile coming to her lips as she thought of Suichi for a moment. His gentle smile, his polite mannerisms, his kindness and selfless generosity... She felt her heart skip a beat as she remembered the way he had helped her change clothes twice now, and how, when she had been hospitalized, he had held her hand whenever she had been ready to break down, continually staying at her side and offering his support.

All out of sympathy, she thought. There was nothing more to it than that. There couldn't be more to it than that. How could Suichi possibly have an interest in a girl like her? Her self esteem was at rock bottom, and she cowered at shadows. Her appearance could best be described as plain, as far as she was concerned, and her head was undoubtedly fucked up from the years of abuse she had endured at the hands of her father. He simply felt sorry for her, and thus, being the kind and sweet man that he was, he had taken it upon himself to help her however he could.

That was all there was to it. She was the most invisible person she knew... shying away from others whenever she could. Kasumi wasn't used to others taking any interest in her as Suichi and his friends had. It was an entirely new experience for her, and she knew she was going to have to get used to it. Until the day that Suichi had raced into the janitor's closet, fleeing his rabid fangirls, she had practically ceased to exist as far as anyone was concerned. The only one who had acknowledged her existence had been her father, and he loathed the very sight of her.

She felt her throat constrict unexpectedly, as this thought entered her mind. She quickly shoved all further thoughts away as last night's events returned to her. She forced herself to return to her manga.

She sat there for what felt like hours, forcing her focus to remain on the words and images on the pages before her. She had actually finished all but three of the manga, when Suichi finally reentered the living room.

"Well the kitchen is clean now. How are you feeling, Kasumi?" he asked gently, coming forward to crouch at her side.

She gave him a small smile. "Much, much better. I can't feel any pain now."

He smiled in return. "I am very happy to hear that." His expression turend a little stern then, but there was a knowing and slightly teasing light in his eyes. "But don't think that just because you can't feel any pain, that I'm going to have you running around and trying to do any work. I realize it is a hard habit for you to get out of, and I can almost sense your restlessness even from inside the kitchen."

She couldn't help but look guilty as she blushed. "Am I really that easy to read?"

He gave a light chuckle and she almost shivered at the sound of it. "No, but I know that old habits die hard. You're used to doing things for others... not having others do things for you. I noticed since I first met you that you always seemed to be put off whenver someone did so. You've worked long and hard enough, in my opinion, and I think it's time you've had some time to sit back and let someone wait on you for a change."

She smiled a little as she blushed deeper and hesitantly nodded.

"I'm going to give my mother a call now, and explain the situation to her. Just stay here and keep on with your relaxation, Kasumi. This will not take me long."

She gave him another nod, and then felt her smile widen as she saw him reenter the kitchen. Then she picked up her borrowed manga and started reading once more.

**There you have the fourth chapter!! Please read and review!!**

**Hehehe... in the next chapter, Kurama gets a little 'hands on' with Kasumi, applying his ointment!! O.o Is anything MORE going to happen??? Read and find out!!!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Wow!! Sorry it took so long to update!! Summer's been busy for me this year!! I'm trying to update all my stories when I get the chance, but it's slow coming. Anyway, here's chapter five!! Please tell me what you think!!**

**And, no, I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho... just Kasumi. Thanks!!**

Suichi's mother had indeed been very kind and understanding about the whole situation, and only more than willing to allow Kasumi to remain in their home. Kasumi was filled with relief, hearing this, knowing that she truly had no where else to go at this point in time. She didn't have a clue what she would have done if Shiori had told her son that she was not allowed to remain there.

Suichi explained that his mother was a publicist, and was often away for weeks at a time doing research and attending seminars across Japan, and even sometimes in other countries. His mother was gone more often than not, and so he often had the house all to himself.

Once he finished speaking with his mother on the phone, he started making supper for the both of them, and once he had finished cooking, supported Kasumi as she made her way to the kitchen table. Although she was no longer in pain, she was still rather stiff. She was relieved when she ate the ramen with no pain to hinder her jaw and the motions of swallowing.

By the time they finished eating, and Suichi cleared off the table and finished the dishes, it was nearing ten o'clock. Kasumi was surprised at how tired she was, even though she hadn't really done anything today, and considering the fact that she had gotten far more sleep than she was used to last night. Suichi put her back into the living room and, while Kasumi finished the mangas that Kuwabara had loaned her, the kitsune was in the kitchen, preparing the salve, wondering as he prepared it, how he was going to apply it to her injuries while still maintaining his dignity.

Youko wasn't helping him in this area.

'_Aw, come on, Suichi... if you get a little pleasure out of this, what's the big deal?'_

'_Youko, I don't want her to think I'm going to take advantage of her in any way. She's had more than enough of being used in her lifetime.'_

Youko snorted. _'What? You're acting like it's going to hurt her to put the salve on her. She KNOWS you're doing it to help her, and she already knows it's going to work to get rid of her bruises and swelling! Besides, from what I understand, she's never been touched by a man THAT way before, and considering that WE'RE the ones who'll be applying the salve, who's to say that she WON'T enjoy it?'_

Suichi moaned._'Youko...'_

_'Hey, I'm just saying... and besides, it's the first time you'll have your hands on a naked woman... or nearly naked, depending on how much clothes she's willing to take off. You can't tell me that you won't enjoy it either...'_

_'ENOUGH!!' _He took the bowl filled with the prepared salve and tried to compose himself. _'Let's NOT discuss this right now, Youko! I'm doing this to heal her, NOT to seduce her!! Any physical pleasure the two of us receive out of this interaction will be strictly coincidental!!'_

He could almost see Youko grinning in his mind's eye. _'If ya say so...'_

Suichi frowned deeply, but Youko said nothing more. Taking in a deep breath, he headed back into the living room, putting a gentle smile back onto his face.

Kasumi looked up when he entered and eyed the bowl. "Your miracle salve?"

He nodded. "Yes, it's ready. It should be enough for the injuries you have." He cleared his throat meaningfully. "I'm... afraid that it must be applied in a certain way or it could cause some rather... nasty adverse effects. If I trusted anyone else but me to apply it to your injuries, I would most certainly call up Keiko or perhaps even Kuwabara's sister, Shizuru, but I'm afraid that they do not have the hands on experience that I have, and..."

"You don't have to explain, Suichi. I... trust you," she said, turning a little red as she said the words, a shy smile coming to her face.

Suichi, looking at her expression, couldn't help it as he felt some heat rush to his own head. Youko grinned broadly from within.

_'Hmm... you sure you're going to be able to behave yourself there, Red? If you like, I could always take over and easily take care of your awkwardness. I can guarantee you that...'_

_'I'm sure I can handle it, Youko,' _Suichi said quickly, knowing what would most likely happen if he were to let Youko control his body while in the process of applying the salve.

He cleared his throat a little, fighting off his own blush. He held his free hand out to her. "Well... we'd best do this now."

She nodded. "Right..." She accepted his hand and let him help her to her feet. Then, while supporting her with one arm, he gently lead her up the stairs and they entered his mother's bedroom.

Suichi set the bowl of salve onto the nightstand and looked at Kasumi a little awkwardly, trying to ignore Youko with little success.

_'Come on, Red... just take the dress off her, lay her down, and get your hands dirty! It's not hard!! Want me to show you how it's done? Just say the word and I'll gladly step forward...'_

_'YOUKO!! Enough!! Nothing is going to happen between us!!'_

Youko chuckled in his mind and Suichi was only barely able to keep his annoyance from his features. _'You say that now, but wait until you start laying your hands on her...'_

_'She's injured, Youko, so please stop...'_

_'You think I'd actually HURT her? Get real! When it comes to women, I treat them like the most delicate flowers, Red. You think she wouldn't enjoy that?'_

Suichi mentally put his foot down, refusing to listen to any more of the kitsune's urgings, as he meaningfully cleared his throat, his gaze still on Kasumi. Then he stepped up to her slowly, and carefully helped her to undress. He unbuttoned the buttons at the neckline, and then took hold of the bottom of the dress, very gently pulling it off over the top of her head. Very carefully trying to keep his eyes from going down to her chest, he gently lead her to the bed and helped her to lay down.

He gazed down at her near naked form for a long moment. She had not bothered with a bra this morning, deciding that it would be likely to irritate her injuries, and he was once again, inexplicably drawn to the perfect swell and shape of her breasts, and almost turned as red as his hair when he realized that there were dark bruises on them as well.

I guess I may as well start from the top and work my way down... Suichi thought, trying to keep himself as composed as the circumstances would allow. Which wasn't very. He could still feel the blood rushing to his head, much to Youko's amusement.

Dipping his fingers into the salve, he gently started applying it to the injuries on her face, starting with a large bruise on her forehead. Kasumi almost gasped when she felt the cold salve as it contacted her skin, but then forced herself to relax as Suichi's body temperature warmed it, and his gentle circular motions rubbed the mixture into her skin. Once he finished with her forehead, his fingers slid down to her cheek, where her father had punched her the night before. His fingers sliding over her skin with an almost feathery touch, and she felt the blood rushing to her head once again at the unfamiliar sensations he was waking in her body already.

She forced herself to stay complacent as she could as he moved to a smaller bruise on the right side of her jaw, his thumb brushing up against her lower lip as he applied the salve. Her heart skipped a beat and she forced herself to take in deep, calculated breaths to keep her virgin body under control, not used to these alien sensations.

But as his hands started working their way down her neck, she found that keeping in control was going to be easier said than done.

Suichi was having difficulties of his own, trying to stamp down both anger that was boiling once more upon closely inspecting her injuries, and the desire that touching her was rising up in him. Youko was still putting in the occassional perverted comment, especially about his anticipation of getting to her chest and to the beautiful shapely thighs. Suichi had only been half done her neck when he suddenly found himself fighting off an erection. He did his best to ignore it, focusing all of his attention on applying the cream to his patient. He daubed more on his fingers, and then continued his way down.

_'Too bad it's not honey or whipped cream,' _Youko said, a grin on his face. _'I would love to lick it off of her soft, creamy skin...'_

_'YOUKO!!!!' _Suichi bellowed mentally, trying to steel himself against the ensuing images that came into his mind. He single mindedly and stubbornly shut out Youko as best he could, and continued on.

Kasumi was bombarded by a series of unfamiliar sensations as Suichi's hands worked their way down the top of her chest, rubbing the salve into her skin with an unparalleled gentleness. She felt her body temperature rise when she realized that she was being very thoroughly turned on by the administrations of the most popular boy in school. She felt his hand hesitate a moment, and then it went over the swell of her left breast, his thumb coming into contact with the nipple briefly. A feeling akin to electric shock went through her and before she could even think to stop it, a cross between a gasp and a moan escaped from her lips. In that same instant, she felt her panties moisten slightly.

The sound of her pleasurable moan, followed hard on the heels by the tangy smell of her arousal, almost sent Suichi over the edge. He felt himself go rock hard in that instant, and he had to steel himself, and found himself struggling against a now almost ravenous Youko. He clawed at the barrier, trying to lunge forward to take control of his hosts body.

_'Damnit, Red!! Let me out!! She wants it!! And I can't just sit here and listen to her moaning and see her writhing on the bed while you keep to your fucking 'morals' and 'integrity' and NOT do something about it!!!'_

Suichi winced at the almost painful struggle he was suddenly experiencing. _'Youko, STOP!!! If you fully step forward and transform, you're going to terrify her!! This is NOT the time to do anything with her!! She's injured and anything we might do could hurt her all the more!! THINK ABOUT IT!!!!'_

Another whiff of her scent entered Suichi's nostrils in that instant, much to his consternation. He heard Youko give a predatory half moan half growl when he caught wind of it. Suichi was now painfully hard and desperately trying to talk reason into the kitsune. He felt it was a losing battle when Youko began his assault against his mental walls once more with a renewed frenzy, and for a moment, he was honestly afraid that Youko would come forward, take control and ravage the very vulnerable woman lying before him.

_'FOX!!! CONTROL YOURSELF!! I thought you had more self control than that, and I would hate it if you proved me wrong!!'_

Suichi gave an immense sigh of relief when the familiar voice jumped into his mind. Glancing at the window, he saw Hiei's red eyes looking squarely at him.

_'Hiei!! Thank Inari!!!'_

_'Hn. Distance yourself from the girl for a few moments and get that kitsune under control again! You know that Koenma would have a few things to say if he were to come bursting loose at a time like this! Go, now!!'_

_'NOOOOO!!!! LET ME OUT NOW RED!!!!!!' _Youko roared, clawing relentlessly at the mental walls holding him back.

Suichi quickly looked at Kasumi, who was blushing madly by this point and a little curious about why he had stopped in his administrations. "Stay here for a few minutes, Kasumi. I will be right back."

The girl looked at him a little curiously, but didn't ask any questions, much to his relief. Leaving the bowl of salve where it was, he got to his feet and quickly exited the room, going to his own room to try and talk some sense into Youko. Hiei was already standing in his room by the time he got there. He had a deep frown on his face, and his arms across his chest.

Youko was stark raving mad, to say the least. _'HOW DARE YOU!! This was the first opportunity I've had in almost eighteen years to get laid and you've got the gall to DENY me?!' _

Hiei glowered and scowled. _'Listen fox... you seem to be forgetting that humans are naturally frail creatures, for one thing. And the one in your mothers bed right now is more frail than most. She is injured and in the state you were in, you would have inadvertedly harmed her even more. You could even have killed her, so shut your mouth, unless you want Koenma to send us after YOU as our next mission!!'_

Suichi nodded in agreement, finally gaining some semblance of control over his own bodies reaction to her scent. _'That's right. Also, this is the first time she has been touched by a man that way before. She is an innocent, Youko. Her body simply reacted. That doesn't mean that she wants us to jump on her and fuck her brains out! And as I've said before, in the state you were in earlier, you would have taken full control and transformed into your demon form. Do you honestly think that she would just by lying there complacently if THAT happened? I highly doubt that she would be calm and collected when faced with a man that has golden eyes, silver hair, and fox ears sitting on top of his head!! You would have terrified her!! She doesn't need any more stress than she's already been put through at the hands of her own father!!'_

_'...Okay, I'll grant you two that, but... HOW CAN YOU EXPECT ME TO CONTROL MYSELF WHEN THE SCENT OF HER AROUSAL IS ASSAULTING ME?! I can't just sit by and do nothing while she smells so... alluring...'_

Hiei snorted then, and spoke aloud for the first time. "Surely you have a plant in your collection that could dull your sense of smell for a short while. Despite the fact that you can be a pain in the ass, I don't want to have to hunt you down and kill you by Koenma's order because you breached the terms of your conditions."

Suichi wordlessly ran his fingers through his hair and came up with a seed, causing it to sprout. He he plucked off one of the dark blue leaves and put it up to his nose, breathing it in deeply. The smell of it was absolutely horrible, and he heard Youko mentally gag, but it would dull their sense of smell for a few hours. He then took in a few deep breaths, ignoring the fact that Youko now seemed to be pouting in the back of his mind, nodded his thanks to the still present Hiei, and returned to the room where his patient was waiting for him.

Suichi gave the girl a gentle smile as he reentered the room, and quickly picked up where he left off. Now that he could no longer smell her arousal, he had an easier time keeping his bodies reaction in check. The only obstacles that he now faced was the hands on approach he was forced to take to take care of her injuries, and the occassional moan and slight squirming that she let loose, despite her own attempts to keep her own bodies reactions in check. He was eternally grateful now for the Makai Stink Weed he had grown when he got to her thighs and noticed with a half glance that her panties were now wet from her reaction to his touch. As it was, the moan she let out made Youko perk up in the back of his mind, and the fox let out a string of curses that would have made even the most hardened youkai blush.

He gently rolled her over, and started on her back. Instead of causing further arousal, this time his motions seemed to simply relax the young woman lying before him. By the time he was finished, it was nearing midnight, and the girl was sleeping soundly in the bed, her head turned to the side so he could see the profile of her face.

He couldn't help but smile gently as he leaned forward and placed a gentle kiss on Kasumi's forehead and took a moment to run his fingers through her hair. "Sleep well, Kasumi. I'll see you in the morning." he whispered softly as he got to his feet, gathered up the bowl of salve, and left the room.

**Please R&R!!!! **


End file.
